El-Sayed deflects questions about Piker ties on CBS

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed deflected repeated questions on Sunday about his ties to streamer Hasan Piker, telling CBS News that voters are more concerned with economic issues like grocery prices and healthcare. During an interview on "Face the Nation," CBS correspondent Weijia Jiang asked El-Sayed about concerns from Jewish voters regarding his relationship with Piker, a controversial streamer who has appeared with him on the campaign trail. "There are Jewish voters in your state who are concerned about your relationship with Piker. You have condemned antisemitism but not called out his rhetoric directly. Why not?" Jiang asked. El-Sayed responded by criticizing the focus on the topic. "Weijia, with all due respect, this is the third time you've asked about a Twitch streamer in California. I've done four events in Michigan this week. You know what didn't come up? Twitch streamers in California," he said. He added that he was "not interested in having a conversation about streamers in California because they are not raising the prices of gas and groceries." The exchange highlighted a persistent issue for El-Sayed's campaign.