Summer Lee ignores calls to cancel appearance with controversial streamer

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, who represents Squirrel Hill, appeared at campaign rallies for Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, on April 7 at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Lee appeared alongside Hasan Piker, a far-left social media influencer who has over 3 million followers on Twitch.

Piker has a history of antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric including justifying Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel; saying that Orthodox Jews are “inbred”; and calling a Jewish person a “bloodthirsty pig dog.” U.S. Rep. Richie Torres of New York has accused Piker of downplaying or denying “the significance of sexual violence by Hamas” during the Oct. 7 attacks.

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StandWithUs, an international and non-partisan Israel education organization, urged Lee’s constituents to call her office and voice their concern about her appearance with Piker.

State Rep. Dan Frankel and state Sen. Judy Schwank, founders of Pennsylvania’s Jewish Legislative Caucus, issued a statement condemning Lee’s plans to campaign alongside Piker, whom they called “a commentator who has repeatedly trafficked in antisemitic statements.”

Public officials, they said, “have an obligation to be unequivocal about the voices they elevate and the company they keep.”

Referencing the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the statement added that “Dehumanizing language creates an environment where hatred is emboldened and violence becomes more likely.”

The statement also referenced a 2024 Council on American Islamic Relations Philadelphia engagement Lee was slated to appear at that included individuals who had engaged in antisemitic and homophobic rhetoric. Lee canceled that appearance, Frankel and Schwank noted, and wrote that, “It is not too late to make that same choice again.”

The pair concluded by noting that the site of Lee’s appearance with Piker was just an hour away from Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, where Ayman Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested for allegedly ramming his truck into the synagogue, in a Hezbollah-inspired act of terror.

“We urge Rep. Lee to reconsider and to stand firmly against antisemitism in all its forms,” they wrote.

Lee ignored the criticism and appeared at the campaign events less than a week after she wished a happy Passover to the Jewish community in Pennsylvania.

In 2024, Lee co-authored a widely criticized statement with then Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The controversial statement included the remarks: “Our hearts ache for the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed, for the Israelis still held hostage, for the millions of displaced Palestinians, Lebanese and Israelis who have seen their communities destroyed…”

“Our grief is compounded by the fact that it didn’t have to be this way. Over the past year, we’ve seen how continued escalation, a lack of diplomacy, and a drive for power by right-wing leaders have pushed the region to the brink of regional war. … We can’t afford to spend more money on bombs when healthcare remains out of reach for so many and our infrastructure has been neglected for a generation.”

Lee has accused Israel of committing genocide in its war against the terrorist organization Hamas. She is a co-sponsor of the Block the Bombs Act, supported by CAIR and the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace, which would prohibit the United States from selling or transferring several types of defensive arms to Israel in the absence of a specific law passed by Congress.

In an interview with the Chronicle after Lee’s appearance with Piker, Frankel, who is Jewish and represents Squirrel Hill, called the congresswoman’s decision to appear in Michigan “disappointing.”

He noted that he and Schwank weren’t the only voices expressing concern, saying that “Jewish organizations around the country” raised objections, “and she decided to proceed.”

“She chose that as a venue to platform a guy that has a consistent record of antisemitic remarks and hateful speech that create an environment that puts our community in jeopardy,” Frankel said.

Julie Paris, StandWithUs’ Mid-Atlantic regional director, said that at a time when antisemitism is rising to record levels, “it has never been more important for our elected officials to take a firm stance against any figures who may be promoting or amplifying antisemitic and anti-Zionist messaging.”

Lee’s decision to campaign alongside Piker, Paris said, “sends a message to her constituents that she does not represent all of us. In her role as a leader in Congress, she has a responsibility to represent her Jewish, Zionist and Israeli constituents just as she would any others.”

Paris encouraged people to sign StandWithUs’ campaign against hate.

“Stand with your Jewish friends and neighbors. Stand with us,” she said.

Lee is running for reelection this year. She is facing perennial long-shot candidate William Parker in the Democratic primary.

It’s a race she’ll run without the endorsement of Frankel, who said that he endorsed Lee’s primary opponent, Steve Irwin, in 2022. He subsequently supported her in that year’s general election, but didn’t do so in 2024.

“In the last election, in 2024, I did not endorse her or endorse against her. That will be my posture in this election,” he said.

It may be the start of a trend. In an April 12 press release, the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club wrote that “In the race for U.S. Representative in the 12th Congressional District, members voted to make no endorsement.”

The Chronicle reached out to Pittsburgh City Council Member Erika Strassburger, whose district includes Squirrel Hill, and Allegheny County Council Member Dan Gryzbek, who represents the South Hills, home to Greater Pittsburgh’s second largest Jewish community. Both are listed as having endorsed Lee on her reelection website. Neither responded to requests for an interview before press time.

Lee did not respond to the Chronicle’s request for an interview. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.