Hasan Piker event with Ilhan Omar sparks Minnesota DFL divide

[0:04] Okay, welcome back. [0:05] Pat Kessler, our political contributor, joins us now. [0:09] And probably the most talked about story of the day. [0:12] We were talking about it all last week, and now the day is finally here. [0:15] We have this very popular Twitch streamer, Son Piker, who is in Minneapolis tonight at a sold-out event. [0:24] It's an event hosted by State Senator Omar Fittay. [0:27] Yes. [0:28] And Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is also expected to attend. [0:30] Yeah, this event sold out in five minutes. [0:33] Wow. [0:33] And so this is how popular this streamer is. [0:37] Hassan Piker is perhaps one of the most popular, if not right now, the biggest Twitch streamer in the country. [0:46] So he has 14 million followers right now. [0:49] He is a left-wing Democrat, and you could even validly call him a far-left-wing Democrat. [0:56] But people love him, particularly young men. [0:59] They love him. [1:00] And the reason that they're holding it, according to Omar Fittay and Ilhan Omar, who will also be there, is that they want to generate the vote for young people. [1:11] They want to get young people out to vote. [1:13] Young people have not historically turned up in great numbers in midterm elections. [1:18] Absolutely correct. [1:19] The question is, why him? [1:21] Why now? [1:22] Why here? [1:23] Ilhan Omar is going to win with overwhelming margins, although we never call elections. [1:28] She has won every election with great margins of victory. [1:33] But she's under a lot of fire right now from Republicans and particularly from President Trump. [1:39] So this is going to be tonight, and here's how interesting it is as a reporter when I'm looking at this. [1:46] We will not know where it is or when it is until one hour before this event happens. [1:55] So I'm not even sure if we're going to be able to get cameras there. [1:58] We'll be able to watch it live on the Twitch stream just to see what it's all about and what they do there. [2:03] But I just think it's a fascinating political story in this last one week of the campaign. [2:09] I don't even know what Twitch is, Pat. [2:11] Does that age me? [2:12] No, not you. [2:14] No, not you. [2:15] I'm like, I'm still on YouTube. [2:17] Well, you know, I've gone to watch Hassan Piker a number of times, and I can see why he is attractive to young people and why they would like it. [2:26] It's just rapid fire. [2:27] There's all sorts of things going on on the screen. [2:29] He's commenting on current events as they happen in real time. [2:35] So it's an interesting show. [2:37] Here is what we need to mention, and the reason why so many Democrats are upset about it, and Republicans, of course, [2:43] is because he has a reputation, and he's been criticized for making anti-Semitic remarks, [2:50] particularly in regards to the war in Israel and Gaza. [2:55] Those are the things that have been bothering him. [2:57] They also say he made anti-American remarks, which he has retracted and apologized for, about 9-11. [3:04] So that's why now the Republicans are in a position to say, you make us denounce everything that is right-wing, extreme right-wing. [3:14] Now we're asking you, demanding that you denounce extreme left-wing, and that's where it is tonight. [3:20] That seems fair, doesn't it? [3:21] Well, sure it is. [3:22] Absolutely. [3:23] But this is all in the mix here. [3:26] Again, after all these years of covering politics that I've done, this is a little unusual, [3:32] and there's no real reason for this seven days before the election, [3:36] because it will reflect, perhaps, on other Democrats. [3:41] And if they don't denounce it enough, or if they don't denounce it at all, [3:44] or if it detracts attention from the issues that they think are important, [3:49] which is affordability in President Trump, [3:51] then that takes away the attention from that. [3:54] And so that's a big deal. [3:56] My only question that I have left is, [3:59] now, supporters of this event say that they hope that it riles up young people, [4:06] gets young people to the polls, [4:08] but does it do more damage than help? [4:10] Because it also highlights a divide in the Democratic Party. [4:15] Well, that's a very interesting question and perceptive, [4:18] because, yes, it does. [4:20] There is a divide in the party in the Democratic Party, [4:23] in the same way there is in the Republican Party. [4:25] You've got conservative, moderate, liberal, far left. [4:30] You've got all that in the Democratic Party. [4:32] And you've got the same thing reflected in a mirror on the Republican side. [4:36] So, again, it exposes the divides. [4:39] Even though you're motivating young people to vote, [4:42] and they're hoping that they get the people out to vote, [4:45] even though you're motivating to vote, [4:47] it does expose a divide that I think some other prominent Democrats, [4:51] even in Minnesota, the Klobuchar's running for governor, [4:55] the Flanagan's running for U.S. Senate, [4:57] don't really want to have. [4:59] Yeah, and Lisa Damath has criticized U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar [5:02] for not demanding that the event be canceled. [5:05] To cancel the event. [5:06] Yeah, we should say Amy Klobuchar has denounced his rhetoric. [5:11] She has said she does not support him, [5:13] she does not support the event, [5:14] but she has not demanded that the event be canceled. [5:17] To be very clear, this is not a Democratic Party event. [5:20] And they've made that clear. [5:22] Yeah, this is a private business. [5:24] It's a podcast, a very popular national podcast. [5:28] And they don't have any right to say you have to cancel this. [5:33] You can denounce it all you want and criticize it, [5:35] but they have no influence or authority to cancel it. [5:39] Okay, speaking of the far left and the far right, [5:42] let's talk about this year's political villains. [5:45] It seems that depending on which side you're listening to, [5:49] you know, one side is, it's like walls, walls, walls, walls, walls. [5:53] The other side is Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. [5:55] Both have low approval ratings here in the state of Minnesota. [5:59] Yep. [5:59] And each party is using that to their advantage. [6:04] Again, it's important to look at this in the context [6:06] of seven days left in the election. [6:09] The election's a week from tomorrow, [6:12] so seven days left of campaigning. [6:14] What you can look at this as is this. [6:18] Right now, for the next seven days, [6:19] the messages you are going to hear directly from the campaigns [6:22] and the PACs supporting them [6:24] is the most important message of their campaign. [6:28] You can tell, you can read the tea leaves here, [6:31] where they think they can make inroads, [6:33] where they think they're weak, [6:34] and where they think they're strong. [6:36] For the Democrats, they're going to go after Trump. [6:38] This is a campaign about Trump. [6:40] Well, President Trump said, [6:42] pretend I'm on the ballot, [6:44] and the Democrats say, [6:46] okay, we will, thank you. [6:47] We're going to do that. [6:48] We're going to... [6:49] So be careful what you wish for, [6:51] because they're making Donald Trump [6:53] and affordability and gas prices [6:56] the centerpiece of the campaign. [6:58] Now, for the Republicans, [6:59] they are trying to link very closely [7:02] the Democratic candidates, [7:05] particularly someone like Peggy Flanagan, [7:08] the lieutenant governor, [7:09] so you see pictures. [7:10] They never have pictures alone anymore. [7:12] You don't see a picture of Peggy Flanagan. [7:14] You see a picture of Flanagan and Walls [7:16] over and over and over again. [7:18] That's what they think is the most potent campaign message [7:23] they can have in the next seven days. [7:25] Likewise, you're going to see this with every Republican. [7:29] And you're going to see them paired with Trump [7:30] over the next seven days. [7:32] Yeah, and anyone who listened to the debates, [7:33] I mean, if it was a drinking game, [7:36] every time they said Walls and Trump... [7:38] I would not have made it through the hour. [7:41] I would not have. [7:43] And speaking of that, [7:44] Minnesota early voting numbers [7:46] are through the roof, [7:49] outpacing the last midterm election. [7:53] Yeah, that's absolutely true. [7:54] Now, we talked earlier about having young people [7:57] come out being motivated to vote. [7:59] You correctly point out that young people [8:01] generally have a lower turnout percentage [8:03] than older folks, [8:04] and so they're trying to motivate the young people. [8:07] But when you look at the numbers, [8:08] and there's a total, you know, [8:10] hundreds of thousands, [8:12] 177,000 right now, [8:15] 241 as of last Friday, [8:17] this is running ahead of four years ago, [8:22] the last midterm election. [8:24] What that says to us [8:25] is that this is a surge [8:27] that indicates people are very, [8:30] very interested in this, [8:31] really interested. [8:33] So they're motivating people to get out to vote. [8:36] We don't know if the Republicans [8:38] are getting more people out or the Democrats. [8:40] However, the strongest surge voting [8:43] is coming in Hennepin County [8:45] and in Ramsey County, [8:48] in Duluth and those places, [8:50] indicating that perhaps [8:52] the Democrats are more motivated so far [8:55] than Republicans. [8:58] Interesting to see here [8:59] because you're going to have 400,000 votes [9:02] at least by Election Day [9:04] that people have already voted. [9:06] So keep in mind, [9:07] everything you see in the news today, [9:09] Hassan Piker, [9:11] Donald Trump affordability, [9:12] those are all things [9:13] that people right now today, [9:15] this hour, [9:16] are using to make up their minds [9:18] when they go to early vote. [9:19] Okay, so outside of Minnesota, [9:21] I'm going to shift you [9:22] out of Minnesota politics right now. [9:25] There is a U.S. Senate race [9:26] happening in Alaska. [9:27] We've talked about this one [9:28] on the show before, [9:29] but there are two Dan Sullivans [9:31] on the ballot. [9:33] The argument is that [9:35] that can be very confusing for voters, [9:37] you know, [9:37] that you'll lose some votes [9:39] because they'll think [9:40] they vote for one Dan Sullivan, [9:42] they're actually voting [9:42] for the other Dan Sullivan, [9:43] and now Trump has filed a lawsuit [9:45] to block a possible Democratic win [9:47] in Alaska [9:48] because of this possible confusion. [9:49] Because of the two names. [9:50] Fraud, [9:51] they're going fraud, [9:51] but there doesn't appear [9:52] to be any crime here. [9:55] Confusion is not a crime. [9:58] The courts in Alaska, [9:59] including the Alaska Supreme Court, [10:01] says this is legal, [10:02] and you can have this [10:04] two Dan Sullivans on the ballot. [10:06] Somebody convinced Dan Sullivan, [10:09] the retired guy, [10:10] to go on the ballot [10:11] to try to take votes away [10:12] from Dan Sullivan, [10:13] the U.S. Senator. [10:15] This has happened for years. [10:17] Over the years, [10:18] I've covered many of these. [10:20] In Pennsylvania, [10:20] Governor Bob Casey [10:21] had many Bob Casey's [10:23] running against him [10:24] all the time. [10:26] It's a tactic. [10:27] Yes, it is. [10:28] And in Minnesota, [10:28] we have one of the best ones ever. [10:30] Back in the day, [10:31] if you remember, [10:32] I don't. [10:33] You're way too young. [10:34] I wasn't here. [10:34] No, you're way too young. [10:36] But KSTP Television [10:38] had a live afternoon broadcast. [10:40] It was called [10:40] The Stephen Sharon Show. [10:42] And very popular. [10:44] Sharon Anderson [10:45] was the TV host. [10:48] So a woman [10:48] by the name of Sharon Anderson [10:50] over and over and over again [10:51] ran for office. [10:53] And especially, [10:54] people thought [10:55] she was the TV host. [10:57] And they gave her [10:58] the nomination. [10:59] She won the Republican nomination [11:01] for attorney general. [11:02] But didn't end up winning. [11:03] She did not [11:04] because the Republicans [11:05] disavowed her. [11:06] But it was a very interesting campaign [11:08] because prior to the election, [11:12] she had been committed [11:13] to a psychiatric unit [11:15] for several months. [11:19] And before the campaign, [11:19] she got out [11:20] and she went around [11:21] and waved a newspaper [11:22] and waved the papers [11:24] or her discharge papers [11:25] saying, [11:26] I am certifiably sane. [11:29] Over and over. [11:31] And my opponent [11:32] cannot say the same. [11:34] Prove to me [11:34] you're sane. [11:36] Oh my... [11:36] So it was the best. [11:37] I mean, [11:38] it was a great campaign. [11:39] So not only did we have... [11:40] Rest in peace. [11:40] Not only did we have [11:41] the body for a governor, [11:43] but we... [11:44] Yes. [11:44] We've had some [11:45] great campaign stories. [11:46] We have... [11:47] I didn't... [11:47] This is the first [11:48] I've heard about this one. [11:49] Yeah, so rest in peace, [11:50] Sharon Anderson, [11:51] but it was a great campaign. [11:52] Yeah. [11:53] Pat Kessler. [11:54] It was awesome. [11:54] With the news you can use. [11:56] Yep. [11:56] Thanks, Pat. [11:57] You'll be telling [11:57] that story someday. [11:59] Tonight? [11:59] Yes. [11:59] Tonight at the dinner table? [12:00] Yeah. [12:01] All right. [12:01] We're going to take you [12:02] to a quick break. [12:03] We'll be back after this. [12:04] Thank you.