Rep. Ilhan Omar will appear Monday with far-left streamer Hasan Piker at a sold-out Minneapolis event even as Minnesota Democrats brand his rhetoric polarizing and urge cancellation.
Fox News Digital reported that the Minnesota Democrat is set to share the stage with Piker at an event hosted by state Sen. Omar Fateh, a Democratic socialist mayoral candidate, just eight days before the midterm elections.
The sold-out Minneapolis gathering has split state Democrats. Fellow party figures have pressed Omar and Fateh to cancel over Piker’s long record of inflammatory comments about America, Israel, and Jews.
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said embracing the streamer is “a mistake” and labeled his rhetoric “polarizing and dangerous.”
"polarizing and dangerous"
Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s gubernatorial campaign went further, calling a number of Piker’s past statements “reckless and unacceptable.”
"reckless and unacceptable."
Omar’s team did not back down. In a statement to FOX 9, her campaign cast the appearance as a turnout play aimed at younger voters.
"Early voting among people under 40 is down, and we need to do everything to get young people to the polls. The Congresswoman knows the Democratic Party is a Big Tent party, and she’s excited to join Senator Omar Fateh’s event to mobilize young voters and get them to vote in this critical midterm election."
Piker commands millions of followers across social media. Fateh is hosting. Omar is joining. That combination is what Minnesota Democrats now have to explain to moderate and Jewish voters days before the midterms.
The backlash is not abstract. It tracks specific remarks that have followed the streamer for years.
In 2019, Piker said “America deserved 9/11.” He later apologized for that comment. Earlier this year on “Pod Save America,” he said he would “vote for Hamas over Israel every single time.” He has also described Orthodox Jews as “inbred.”
In August he went further on American Jews and Israel:
"People don’t f*** with Israel any longer. And if Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they’re singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone will come around and take action not against Israel, mind you, but against American Jews,"
Piker has rejected accusations of antisemitism. The statements remain on the record. Minnesota Democrats are the ones now choosing whether to share a stage with them.
Other Democratic officials and party groups have called on Omar and Fateh to scrap the event. University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs told FOX 9 the booking would “create a split within the DFL.”
"create a split within the DFL"
Jacobs warned the appearance could distract statewide Democrats and put candidates in a difficult spot with moderate and Jewish voters. That warning lands eight days from Election Day, not in a quiet off-year.
Piker has also backed progressive candidates elsewhere. One of them, Francesca Hong, lost Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary in August 2026. The Minneapolis event still went forward as a joint draw with Omar.
Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s campaign, Fateh, and Piker for additional comment and did not immediately receive a response beyond the campaign’s earlier defense of the youth-turnout rationale.
Craig called the embrace a mistake. Klobuchar’s campaign called the rhetoric reckless. Party groups pushed cancellation. Omar’s campaign answered with “Big Tent” language and a claim that early voting under 40 is lagging.
The tent now includes a streamer who said America deserved 9/11, said he would vote for Hamas over Israel, called Orthodox Jews “inbred,” and warned of “action” against American Jews if they stay “singularly invested” in Israel. That is the choice on the Minneapolis stage Monday night.
Voters can decide whether a big tent is the same thing as a blank check.
