{
  "id": 8033416,
  "title": "Hasan Piker Stands by Calling America the ‘Top Dog in Terrorism’ in Contentious Interview",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/hasan-piker-stands-by-calling-america-the-top-dog-in-terrorism-in",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-17T13:19:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TheWrap",
    "slug": "thewrap",
    "url": "https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/hasan-piker-us-terrorism-al-qaeda-abdul-el-sayed-response/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Hasan Piker defended his controversial statement that the United States is the \"top dog in terrorism\" when compared to al-Qaeda, in a contentious interview. Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed dismissed the comparison, stating that he does not agree with the assertion and giving more weight to the statements of Democratic nominee, Donald Trump, and Mike Rogers. Piker made the remarks during an interview with \"The Axios Show,\" asserting that the U.S. has caused more deaths globally through terrorism than al-Qaeda, citing a missile strike on an Iranian elementary school as evidence. El-Sayed, who supports Piker in Michigan's Democratic primary, criticized the comparison, emphasizing the danger of the policies of Trump and Rogers. The Republican nominee's campaign has spent nearly $3 million on ads targeting El-Sayed over the association, featuring Piker's 2019 remarks about America \"deserving 9/11.\" Piker has since apologized for the wording and framed the statement as an analysis to prevent further violence, both domestically and regionally.",
  "summary": "The remarks made during an Axios interview prompted Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to reject the comparison The post Hasan Piker Stands by Calling America the ‘Top Dog in Terrorism’ in Contentious Interview appeared first on TheWrap .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}