El-Sayed Invoked 'Cancel Culture' to Protect Hasan Piker. Then His Own Deleted 9/11 Tweets Surfaced. Charlamagne Would Like a Word.

Darlings, it is September 1st, we are still here, and Abdul El-Sayed has apparently decided that the correct response to a week of political freefall is to announce, on the record, that he is against cancel culture.

Per Yahoo News, El-Sayed told interviewers he would not disavow Hasan Piker because, quote, "I'm against cancel culture." That is his line. That is what he landed on. After a week of synagogue apologies, deleted statements, and refusing to answer questions at his own public events, the man chose the cancel culture hill to die on.

We wish him strength in this trying time of his own making.

The Deleted Tweets, the New Clip, and the Audacity

Here is where the week turned from bad to genuinely spectacular. The New York Post and CBS News both reported, on August 31st, that El-Sayed had scrubbed old tweets in which he apparently trashed America in the context of the September 11 attacks. The tweets are gone. The scrutiny is not. According to CBS News, the deletion is now inviting a broader examination of El-Sayed's past remarks at precisely the moment he needs everyone looking literally anywhere else.

And if this feels familiar, it's because El-Sayed already issued a formal apology on August 29th for a comment about a synagogue attack. One retraction is a rough week. Two stories about things you allegedly said and then tried to make disappear is a pattern.

Meanwhile, per multiple outlets including Fox News and Yahoo News, a clip has surfaced in which Hasan Piker allegedly compares Israel's "right to exist" to Nazi Germany. That is the new clip in circulation as of August 31st. El-Sayed, who is against cancel culture, has not addressed it specifically. The Washington Examiner reported separately that Piker has now exited the Michigan campaign trail entirely, which is either a strategic retreat or the most self-aware thing anyone has done in this saga, depending on your read.

Per the Washington Examiner, El-Sayed is simultaneously defending Piker against what he's calling an effort to "cancel" the streamer, while also attempting a full campaign reset focused back on Donald Trump. Forbes reported the reset attempt. It is not clear those two postures are compatible. It is very clear El-Sayed's communications team is earning whatever they're being paid.

Charlamagne, Bernie, and the People Who Are Not Helping

Charlamagne tha God pressed El-Sayed directly on the Piker association and, per Yahoo News coverage of the interview, asked the question everyone has been circling: "Did your politics truly change?" That is not a softball. That is a man with a microphone and a memory asking a candidate to account for the distance between who he was and who he says he is now. El-Sayed's answer, per the available reporting, did not close the loop.

Senator Roger Marshall weighed in on Fox Business on August 31st to slam the El-Sayed-Piker association. Greg Gutfeld declared on Fox News that he doesn't think Piker "is here to stay." Greg Gutfeld is now a Hasan Piker analyst. The Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece pairing Chuck Schumer's name with Piker's in the headline. The New York Times editorial board published a piece titled "How El-Sayed Could Dispatch His Hasan Piker Problem," which suggests the Gray Lady has some thoughts and El-Sayed has not taken them.

Then there is Bernie Sanders, who told the Washington Examiner and Politico that top Democrats simply aren't being enthusiastic enough about El-Sayed to help him win Michigan. Bernie is not wrong that establishment energy has been lukewarm. He is also doing this on the same news cycle in which his chosen candidate is defending a streamer who allegedly just compared Israeli statehood to Nazi ideology. The timing is extraordinary. Bernie bites back, per Politico's headline. The question is who he thinks he's biting.

And over in Los Angeles, CityWatch LA noted on September 1st that Nithya Raman, the city council member with her own progressive base, has yet to say a single public word about the Piker antisemitism controversy. Silence is a choice. In an election year, it is also a receipt.

Where This Leaves Everyone

El-Sayed is attempting to hold three positions simultaneously: I support Piker as a person, I reject what Piker said, and I am against cancel culture. Those three things do not add up to a coherent sentence, let alone a Senate campaign message. Forbes reported he's trying to redirect attention to Trump. The Hill reported he still has not denounced Piker. Newser noted he won't apologize for Piker after already having apologized for himself.

Piker, per the signal, is off the Michigan trail and apparently continuing to generate new clips that the right-wing media apparatus will cheerfully surface every 48 hours for the foreseeable future. A new comparison. A new headline. A new round of Democrats being asked whether they agree with the thing the streamer said this time.

The cancel culture defense, my loves, is only available to people who are not simultaneously watching their own deleted tweets make the news. El-Sayed has chosen a sword. We will see if he lies on it.

Prediction: the next clip drops before Labor Day weekend is over, and someone will have to ask Bernie about it.