Hasan Piker, a socialist Twitch streamer, recently praised an aide to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for a remark about impoverishing the White middle-class. The comment was made by Cea Weaver, who is White and grew up in a wealthy neighborhood in Rochester.

Background on the Comment

Piker was responding to a criticism from liberal comic Bill Maher, who had quoted Weaver’s comment on his ‘Real Time’ program. Maher had said that Weaver’s remark was an example of the extreme views held by some socialists. Piker defended Weaver, saying that she was ‘awesome’ and that her comment was an example of ‘beast mode,’ a phrase popularized by former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch.

Weaver’s comment had been criticized by others, including Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who called Piker’s 2019 comments about the 9/11 terror attacks ‘dumb.’ Piker has also been criticized for his views on communism and his praise for authoritarian leaders such as Mao Zedong.

Piker’s Response to Criticism

Piker responded to Maher’s criticism by saying that the fall of the USSR was a ‘great catastrophe’ and that Mao Zedong was a ‘great leader.’ He also disputed Maher’s suggestion that the China of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping had ‘fallen.’ Piker said that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is ‘certainly no Communist,’ agrees with him on the importance of the USSR.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.