Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., brushed off far-left streamer Hasan Piker's role in American politics on Thursday, questioning why people were focused or devoting time to him."It is absolutely ludicrous that so much oxygen from sitting elected officials in the United States Congress is being dedicated to discourse around a Twitch streamer for young people," Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the progressive Squad, said according to The Hill.Rep.
Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., also didn't dismiss him outright, telling the outlet she wouldn't defend all his views.MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT DEMANDS REPORTERS STOP ASKING 'ABOUT HASAN PIKER' AHEAD OF SENATE RACE"That's for him to do," she said.Jayapal added, "I don’t know why, all of a sudden, the standard is you have to agree with everything he said."HASAN PIKER IS BECOMING THE 'FACE OF THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT,' FORMER DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVE WARNSRep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and streamer Hasan Piker.
(Sarah Rice/Getty Images; Florencia Tan Jun/Web Summit via Sportsfile via Getty Images)Jaypal told the outlet Democrats needed to reach Piker's voters."I think that we have been talking about how we need to reach out to all parts of our party, and also how difficult it is sometimes to get people to pay attention to politics, and so streamers are important in that," Jayapal said.The Hill cited multiple Democrats who have dismissed Piker, including Rep.Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who told the outlet, "Not only should people not be on stage with him or take his support, they should condemn his views and what he has said.""And I think anything short of that is unacceptable," he added.SOME DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY DISGUSTED BY HASAN PIKER BUT ARE AFRAID TO PUBLICLY CRITICIZE HIM, HOUSE DEM CLAIMSPiker has campaigned with several Democrats this midterm election cycle, including Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for Senate in Michigan.
Other Democrats have expressed the importance of reaching Piker's listeners, including Sen.Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.Sande...