Far-left streamer Hasan Piker sounded the alarm Tuesday night after Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary, warning that the socialist wing of the party can expect even more resistance from the establishment going forward.
Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, fell to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley after a bruising primary that became a test of just how much influence the party’s socialist flank really has with voters.
Piker, who appeared alongside Hong and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., at an August campaign rally, used his livestream to frame the defeat as a warning shot for the broader progressive movement.
“It will be more difficult, though, because the establishment will not underestimate us. It will continue to undermine us, but they will not underestimate us,” Piker said. “So, the knives will be out.”
The remarks drew an immediate response from Republicans.
HASAN PIKER SAYS ‘THE KNIVES ARE OUT’ AFTER EL-SAYED PRIMARY WIN
Progressive commentator Hasan Piker warned that “the knives will be out” following Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary#WashingtonEye pic.twitter.com/j0vpj1ZaQm
— Washington Eye (@washington_EY) August 12, 2026
RNC national spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre blasted Piker and called on Democrats to distance themselves from the controversial streamer.
“Hasan Piker is a Hamas-hugging radical with a long history of threatening rape and violence against those he disagrees with. Democrats would do right to disavow him, but they’ll continue to bend to his will like spineless, useful idiots,” Baldassarre said.
The Wisconsin race had become a clear showdown between the Democratic Party’s socialist left and its more traditional establishment.
Hong entered the contest with support from Omar, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner and Wisconsin-based DSA chapters.
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Crowley, meanwhile, returned to the race after initially dropping out and quickly consolidated support from major Democratic players.
Retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers endorsed Crowley, as did the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council, the IBEW Wisconsin State Conference and a collection of Democratic mayors and local officials.
The establishment muscle ultimately proved too much for the DSA-backed candidate.
Hong had already tried to create some distance between herself and Piker after appearing on his livestream for a campaign fundraiser.
During a July interview, she argued that appearing with someone did not mean she supported everything the host had previously said.
Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate and television personality Spencer Pratt wasted little time mocking the socialist reaction once the results became clear.
“Beetlejuice Bob isn’t take the Hong loss well,” Pratt said on X. “The DSA are freaking out that everyone is realizing Emperor Mao here has no clothes.”
Piker attempted to put a positive spin on Crowley’s victory, calling it “far from the worst result” and predicting the Democrat would still defeat Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in November.
“Crowley still, if he wins, is going to defeat Tom Tiffany. And that’s a good thing. OK, I stand on that,” Piker said.
But the defeat still represented a setback for the socialist movement after Piker and other progressive figures threw their weight behind Hong.
The primary also came with another layer of controversy after the results were delayed until early Wednesday because of a mistake by Milwaukee election officials.
Officials said “human error” caused five of nine memory sticks delivered to the Milwaukee County Courthouse to contain audit logs instead of election results.
Milwaukee Election Commission Director Paulina Gutierrez said an election worker pushed the wrong button while downloading the data, forcing officials to retrieve the correct results before finishing the count.
By the time the dust settled, Crowley had handed the DSA another painful loss in a major battleground state, while Piker was already warning his socialist allies that the Democratic establishment would be coming for them even harder next time.
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