Tag: Midterm elections 2026

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

Tuesday night wasn’t just a blue tsunami, or “bluenami.” It was a historic night for progressive Democrats, in particular candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, DSA. Six new DSA-backed candidates were elected to the House: Angela Gonzales-Torres in California, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier here in New York, Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania, Donavan McKinney in Michigan and Melat Kiros in Colorado, representing Denver. Currently, just two sitting lawmakers, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, are DSA members. And in Los Angeles, democratic socialist City Councilmember Nithya Raman, an immigrant from India, defeated the incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, who conceded Thursday.

For more on the record victory by democratic socialists and progressives, like Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, we’re joined now from Los Angeles by the popular left political commentator Hasan Piker, one of the most prominent online influencers, with millions of followers. His live stream on Twitch was the second most watched individual broadcast on election night, after only NBC News’ live stream. That’s according to Reuters. Hasan Piker joins us now from West Hollywood, California.

Hasan, welcome back to Democracy Now! Your views on what has taken place in this country? How would you characterize it? And what are you expecting from these candidates who have now won?

HASAN PIKER: I think what happened on Tuesday was the final chapter of MAGA closing, after a decade of death and destruction and destabilization. I’ve thought quite a bit about this. I feel like even 2020, given that Joe Biden’s margin of victory did not feel the same way, given that 2020 happened in the backdrop of COVID, did not completely destroy the Trump movement in the same way that November 3rd did. Very exciting.

I think there’s a lot of hunger. This is — a lot of hunger for change. This is something that I observed early on in the oligarchy — “Stop the Oligarchy” rallies that Bernie and AOC were conducting all around the country. It’s something that I saw at the ICE protests. And it’s also something that I saw at the No Kings rallies that were taking place. So, I would say the Democratic Party, and the anti-Trump coalition broadly, got sick and tired of the corruption. They got sick and tired of the impacts on the economy. And they came out, and they voted against the Republicans. They voted for Democrats.

But I also want to talk about what kind of Democrats they voted for. In many blue districts, very clearly, especially in these contentious primaries, a lot of Democrats, lifelong Democrats, came out and voted for figures that in the past would have been billed as radical by mainstream media, corporate media, and also certainly the party bosses. It seems to me like people wanted to place the interests of the working class over the interests of corporations for once. And the Democratic Socialists of America had a phenomenal night, and this movement is only going to continue to grow.

But also, what I heard in terms of rhetoric, from the likes of James Talarico, or even Jon Ossoff, or Annie Andrews in South Carolina, or even Colom in Mississippi, is the left populist rage that they were able to tap into. If you were to look back at some of these candidates who are now being billed as moderates by party bosses who want to regain the narrative over what took place on Tuesday, if you were to listen to what they had to say, if you were to simply read out their comments on the rallies, their acceptance speeches, you would hear Bernie Sanders’s voice being echoed through many of these campaigns all across the country. I believe that this is a testament to where the party’s at, and I believe this is a testament to where the voters are at, the fact that they were able to — the fact that they rewarded people like Talarico, who very clearly designed his campaign around the simple principle that this was, as a matter of fact, class warfare that was taking place, that the billionaire class was actually engaging in class warfare and winning, that it wasn’t about a distinction between left versus right, but more so up versus down. And that is, in my opinion, the true, fascinating story of November 3rd.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Hasan, in a recent piece for the Black Agenda Report, Ajamu Baraka wrote that this election was, quote, “a setback for Donald Trump and the Republican Party. But they should not be confused with a defeat of the political forces driving the consolidation of fascism in the United States and globally.” What do you think are the next steps for voters and progressives who want to see this blue wave actually turn into real, material change?

HASAN PIKER: Great question. So, what people are demanding right now — and I see this personally on the streets, and I also certainly see this on the internet — is real, tangible changes. We want files and trials. We want, to use an expletive, belt to ass, is what the attitude is that many Democrats are demanding, and not just socialists or progressives, not just people that would otherwise be considered radicals, but straightforward, lifelong Democrats, people that self-identify as liberals. They want accountability. They want law and order. And they want to put an end to the corruption, the lawlessness and disorder that’s come from the White House, where Trump has only enriched himself and his immediate family members, and also members of the Epstein class.

Now, here’s the problem: Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are two of the least popular politicians in the country right now. And there are demands to change the leadership in the Democratic Party to reflect the desires of this new coalition that was developed on November 3rd. Will the Democrats actually follow through on this?

Well, things that I’ve seen from the oversight Dems, including the demand to lawyer up, or the threat, rather, to lawyer up, show me that there is some positive changes taking place. But what needs to happen going forward in order to ensure that this defeat of MAGA is permanent, to ensure that there are real consequences for those in positions of power, and to make sure that this truly becomes an anti-fascist coalition, the Democrats have to do the unthinkable: They have to listen to the demands of their voters. They have to follow through on their just and righteous desires.

We have to, of course, scale back on endless militarism all around the world, another demand that voters have made. Very clearly, a big part of the reason why this election was such a wipeout of Republicans across the board was not just because of the gas prices, but also because of the Iran war. So, I will make sure that we continue marshaling the forces necessary to not only hold the Republicans accountable, but to hold the Democrats to account, as well, if they don’t follow through on these promises that they’ve made.

AMY GOODMAN: Hasan, we just have a minute. Number one, do you think Bernie Sanders should run for the Democratic majority leader in the Senate?

HASAN PIKER: Bernie Sanders can run for anything he wants to, and I would support him. But yes, I think — I think Bernie Sanders is far more reflective of the wishes of the Democratic base of support. So —

AMY GOODMAN: And I —

HASAN PIKER: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to also ask you about your own lawsuit now against Scott Jennings, a major CNN commentator, was being considered apparently to be the press secretary for President Trump now. You have launched a more than $70 million lawsuit against him for mischaracterizing what you’ve said. We only have 30 seconds. Your comment?

HASAN PIKER: I think Republicans need to realize that their days are numbered. They can no longer lie with impunity. If they won’t retract their statements, if they won’t stop the lies, then we’ll make them stop.

AMY GOODMAN: Hasan Piker, we want to thank you for being with us, prominent left political commentator and live-streamer on Twitch, had one of the most popular broadcasts on election night, vying with, larger than most of the corporate networks.

We want to wish a happy birthday to Emily Andersen and John Hamilton!

Oh, Steal This Story, Please!, the documentary about Democracy Now!, is now available on many streaming platforms, from Amazon Prime to YouTube to Apple TV and Google Play, in Canada and the United States. Go to StealThisStory.org to see where you can watch it. And Steal This Story, Please! will be screening at the IFC in New York on November 11th at 4:30. Check our website at democracynow.org. I’ll be speaking afterwards with the directors, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González, for another edition of Democracy Now!