“See, they messed up by messing with me,” said Former Rep. Cori Bush in an Instagram reel titled “Cori Bush has a message for AIPAC.” “They messed up by also giving me time off to figure some things out.”
In August 2024, Bush became the second member of the Squad, an informal group of House progressives, to lose her congressional seat. A nurse and Black Lives Matter protest organizer, Bush has been a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza. Pro-Israel groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, spent $9 million to unseat her and elect her opponent, current Rep. Wesley Bell.
Last Friday, Bush invited Twitch streamer and left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker, also known as HasanAbi, to join her at a May Day event at St. Louis’ Aloe Plaza. Piker streams for 8 to 10 hours daily, having gained over 4.5 million followers across multiple online platforms, and a large, mostly male audience who enjoy his far-left political commentary. Piker was set to debate Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk at the Dartmouth Political Union, scheduled before Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University.
“A lot of people don’t come to St. Louis, apparently,” said Piker to the crowd. “And I don’t know why.”
Bush, Piker, and other guests on the podium spoke about workers’ rights and the Cori Bush campaign.
“In all my travels, I’ve seen a lot of places like St. Louis,” said Piker. “Places that have been left behind by wealthy corporations that pollute your water, that steal your productive output, and then spend it on themselves. But, today, and every day from here on out, we say ‘no more.'”
“We don’t care where you come from, we don’t care where you work, we don’t care who you serve. I don’t even care if you voted for me last time. I care that you have your rights, and that those rights are protected,” said Bush to the crowd.
“We are no longer going to vote for ‘Do-Nothing’ Democrats either,” said Piker. “We are voting for Democrats with a purpose.”
‘The workers united, will never be divided,” the crowd said in unison.
Like Bush, Piker is an outspoken critic of Israel. He has been accused of anti-semitism and has faced backlash for other controversial comments, particularly one where he said that “America deserved 9/11,” on one of his Twitch streams. During the first debate of the last New York City mayoral race, Former Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized Mayor Zohran Mamdani for associating with and failing to condemn Piker, who appeared with Mamdani on stream.
This April, Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mike Lawler introduced bipartisan legislation condemning and deplatforming internet personalities, including Hasan Piker and Candace Owens, for their views on Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Though Piker has been embraced by other popular internet personalities, appearing on Brittany Broski’s Royal Court talk show and Quenlin Blackwell’s Feeding Starving Influencers segment, Democrats, such as Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, have been scrutinized for appearing alongside Piker. Bush is no exception.
Jordan Blaze, campaign manager for the Wesley Bell campaign, told KSDK News that “Cori Bush should apologize to the Missouri families who lost someone on 9/11, to victims of sexual violence, and to families of military personnel killed in terrorist attacks around the world.”
“I know what it’s like to be one of those workers who didn’t have healthcare, working low wage, and all the things that come along with that,” Bush told us in an interview. “One way that we fix problems is first of all, presence.”
Others believe that this union between Bush and Piker is a step toward change.
“Cori Bush is one of the few candidates that we see running who will stand up to genocide and who will stand for workers’ rights, and has consistently stood for workers’ rights,” said Hank Fosdick, a high school student who attended the rally. “We are done with having our labor, our time, and our energy exploited for people we will never meet and people who do not care about us.”
“When you feel like things are not right, you have to speak out,” said Mary Shaw, a member of Singing Resistance STL who participated in the rally.
The personal invitation that Bush extended to Piker, which further differentiated her from her opponent, Rep. Bell, echoes the widening gap between progressives and other Democrats, as the Democratic Party aims to win back the House, Senate, and White House ahead of 2028.
“If you don’t pay attention, we’re paying attention to you,” Bush told us.
“Liberals never go far enough,” said Fosdick.
