Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed spent the night before Election Day at a pool party with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, sparking pushback both from his primary opponent and his Republican opposition.

The event was hosted by a content creator in Detroit, Michigan, and also attended by progressive House candidates Melat Kiros and Chris Rabb, both members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), The Associated Press reported.

Michigan Democratic state Rep. Donavan McKinney was also reportedly in attendance.

Piker, who has roughly 10 million followers across multiple social media platforms, has made multiple appearances on the campaign trail with El-Sayed, raising questions about the ideological similarities between the two. Last month, Piker drew backlash after addressing a group of college students while wearing an outfit resembling that of former communist dictator Mao Zedong.

HASAN PIKER’S DEFENSE OF HAMAS HAVING ‘RIGHT TO RESIST MILITARILY’ DRAWS CONDEMNATION FROM HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS

«I never would and never will criticize Mao Zedong,» Piker said earlier this year in a clip that recently resurfaced on social media. «One of the great leaders of this world.»

Piker has also said in the past that «America deserved 9/11» and has made controversial comments about Hamas and the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

While El-Sayed has said he doesn’t agree with all of Piker’s positions, he has faced criticism for not distancing himself from the controversial streamer.

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, films a social media video at a pool party for content creators supporting his campaign, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), running against El-Sayed in Tuesday night’s Senate primary, was asked about the relationship between El-Sayed and Piker in a press gaggle hours before polls closed.

«I don’t believe Mr. Piker lives here in our state. I do think his rhetoric should be denounced. I do think that my opponent should distance himself from him. I don’t know what they were doing last night at this pool party that was going on, but I was with Congresswoman Hillary Scholten and Debbie Stabenow,» Stevens told Fox News.

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, center left, talks poolside with streamer Hasan Piker, center right, at a party for content creators supporting his campaign, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Referring to Piker, Stevens said «some of this stuff makes people uncomfortable. Frankly, it makes me uncomfortable. You know, we don’t need these demagogues or people citing allegiance to Mao coming into Michigan.»

And pointing to El-Sayed, Stevens added, «Maybe instead of being with Mr. Piker, you know, if he ends up winning the nomination, maybe he’ll come with me and hear from some of the small businesses who don’t want this extreme politics coming into our state.»

ABDUL EL-SAYED SAYS RALLYING WITH HASAN PIKER DOESN’T MEAN HE ENDORSES ‘AMERICA DESERVED 9/11’ REMARK

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, talks poolside with streamer Hasan Piker at a party for content creators supporting his campaign, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

«Instead of spending his final hours campaigning with Michiganders, Abdul El-Sayed spent it poolside with an antisemite and terrorist sympathizer who believes America deserved 9/11,» NRSC Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell told Fox News Digital in a statement on Tuesday.

The campaign of presumptive GOP nominee Mike Rogers also weighed in as voters headed to the polls on Tuesday.

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, talks poolside with streamer Hasan Piker at a party for content creators supporting his campaign, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit.   (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

«We’re getting ready to prosecute the case against Abdul, but it looks he’s already giving us a head start,» Alyssa Brouillet, Rogers’ campaign communications director, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. «This is giving fraud, not serious. And Michiganders are battling serious issues they need a senator to deal with—not someone who dances around with LA and NYC influencers who think ‘America deserved 9/11.’»

Hours before the pool party, Piker was at a campaign event with El-Sayed where a reporter asked him if he plans to campaign with the progressive Senate candidate after Tuesday night’s primary.

JAMES CARVILLE VOWS TO ABANDON DEMOCRATIC PARTY IF FAR-LEFT HASAN PIKER BECOMES LEADING VOICE

Streamer Hasan Piker attends a pool party for content creators supporting Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

«Are you crazy?» Piker responded. «Of course.»

Fox News Digital reached out to the El-Sayed campaign and Piker’s team for comment.

El-Sayed is set to square off against Stevens in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary Tuesday night, where polls close at 8 p.m. local time. El-Sayed, according to recent polling, is expected to advance to the general election in November to face Rogers in a race that could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

The El-Sayed campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Iran’s rival political factions are increasingly invoking the authority of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to attack their opponents and protect their own positions, even as questions persist over whether he is actively governing the country, according to an Iran expert.

The internal struggle surfaced in two reports published by Iran International concerning Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s relationship with the new supreme leader.

In the first report, senior cleric Mohammad-Bagher Kharrazi, a relative of the Khamenei family by marriage, claimed Pezeshkian had repeatedly threatened to resign and was warned that his next resignation would be accepted.

IRAN EXPERT BRANDS ISLAMIC CENTER OF ENGLAND IRAN’S ‘UK OFFICE,’ URGES IMMEDIATE CLOSURE

«If he resigns one more time, I will approve it,» Kharrazi quoted Khamenei as saying.

Pezeshkian’s office strongly denied the account. Mehdi Tabatabaei, the president’s deputy for communications and information, called the allegation «baseless and an outright lie,» while another presidential advisor said Kharrazi had no contact with the supreme leader and was known for telling «strange stories.»

Hours later, Iran International published a second report alleging Pezeshkian had met Mojtaba Khamenei only once, inside a vehicle with tinted windows at an undisclosed location in Tehran.

According to the outlet’s unnamed sources, the encounter lasted several minutes, the two men could not see each other and Pezeshkian was not permitted to shake Khamenei’s hand. The report alleged that the president later questioned whether the voice he heard had actually belonged to the supreme leader.

IRAN’S GOOD COP, BAD COP GAME IMPLODES AS EXPERTS WARN REGIME VIEWS US AS ‘EVIL’

Masoud Pezeshkian, then a presidential candidate, waves as he arrives to vote at a polling station in Shahr-e-Qods near Tehran, Iran, on July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The claims have not been independently verified. Pezeshkian previously described a substantially different encounter, saying publicly that he had spent approximately two and a half hours with Khamenei in a cordial atmosphere.

Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, said the competing claims surrounding Pezeshkian and Mojtaba Khamenei reflected a deeper struggle inside what he described as an «Islamist oligarchic mafia system.»

Under Ali Khamenei, Aarabi said, the supreme leader functioned as the system’s «godfather,» arbitrating among rival Islamist factions and guaranteeing their access to power and money. His removal created a vacuum that Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment was intended to fill, but the new supreme leader’s prolonged public absence has left rival factions uncertain about who is actually in charge.

«The very essence of this mafia system is built on a godfather,» Aarabi said. «If the godfather is absent, whether because he is severely incapacitated or nonexistent, that vacuum… re-emerges between the various Islamist oligarchic clans.»

Aarabi said those factions are not primarily divided by ideology.

«They’re not competing over ideology,» he said. «They’re competing over raw power and economic interests.»

In that environment, Aarabi said, Mojtaba Khamenei’s name has become a political instrument that competing factions can invoke to legitimize themselves, constrain their rivals or justify decisions whose true source remains unclear.

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People hold placards with an image of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a rally in Tehran, Iran, March 9, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Via Reuters)

«Mojtaba’s name is the glue that’s holding the system together right now,» Aarabi said. «Each of these clans invokes his name to justify its existence, legitimize its position, and consolidate its place within this fragile system.»

Exiled Iranian journalist Mehdi Ghadimi described the resignation claims as part of a recurring political strategy used by reformist administrations.

«This is a familiar cycle,» Ghadimi said. «Whenever they feel that their usefulness to the supreme leader has come to an end, they start circulating these resignation rumors in an effort to build public sympathy and improve their image before being pushed aside.»

Ghadimi said similar rumors surrounded former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani during the final years of their administrations. He argued that reformist-aligned media channels often continue circulating resignation claims even after a president’s office formally denies them, allowing officials later to portray themselves as having challenged the supreme leader.

On Mojtaba Khamenei’s status, Ghadimi went further than Aarabi, saying he did not believe there was «a functioning person by that name who is capable of thinking, making decisions or speaking.»

«Either he is dead, or he is being kept alive in an extremely unstable and severely deteriorated condition,» Ghadimi said.

Aarabi said the two reports illustrate that dynamic. A cleric opposed to or unaligned with Pezeshkian invoked Mojtaba Khamenei’s authority to weaken the president by claiming his next resignation would be accepted, while figures around Pezeshkian pushed back with an account portraying the president as having met directly with the supreme leader.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in any publicly released video or audio recording since succeeding his father, according to Iran International. Iranian officials have offered conflicting accounts about how often senior government figures have met him.

Aarabi cautioned that using Khamenei’s name as a source of authority will become increasingly difficult if his public absence continues.

A composite image shows several Iranian leaders named in the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offering up to $10 million for information on key figures tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including Mojtaba Khamenei, top left. (State Department/Rewards for Justice; Khoshiran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

«There’s only so many times you can use someone’s name without any proof of life that they actually exist,» Aarabi said. «The longer Mojtaba is absent, the more questions develop over whether he is alive or able. And as soon as that doubt increases, you will see this infighting increase.»

FIRST ON FOX: The reports of President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s dead working relationship have been greatly exaggerated, the South Dakota Republican leader told Fox News Digital.

«I’ve heard from him twice this morning already. He called me over the weekend, and so there, you know, we talk, I don’t bother him, I’m not calling him every day,» Thune said in an interview.

Last week, Trump said, «We’re going to find out,» whether Thune was the man for the job to lead Senate Republicans, casting doubt on a critical relationship between him and the Senate’s top Republican.

TRUMP QUESTIONS THUNE’S LEADERSHIP AS SAVE AMERICA ACT STALLS

The tension stems from the SAVE America Act floundering in the Senate, and Trump’s desire to see the election integrity package passed by any means necessary.

Thune doesn’t see Trump’s comment as a personal slight, however. Both he and the president «want to get to the same place. We have, sometimes, disagreements about how best to get there.»

«Most of mine are constrained by what’s achievable in an institution like the Senate that has procedural roadblocks to do almost anything,» Thune said.

«We have those candid conversations, but I’m not worried about that relationship,» he continued. «I know he’s going to push as hard as he can. That’s his business model, is to just keep pushing, pushing, pushing to get people to go as far as they can go.»

SENATE FACES ‘COME-TO-JESUS’ MOMENT ON TRUMP’S ELECTION PRIORITY UNDER GOP’S NEW PLAN

There is a voracious appetite among Trump, Senate Republicans and their base to see the SAVE America Act passed. One that Thune hears every day, either online or within his own conference.

It’s dominated the oxygen inside the Capitol and beyond its walls, and the pressure comes as the Senate is sprinting to finish work on key items, like preventing a government shutdown and confirming dozens of Trump’s nominees.

«There are good days and bad days,» Thune said. «And around here, probably lately more bad days than good days, but you know you just kind of, like I said, keep your head down, do the work.»

But passing the SAVE America Act is the most elusive item for Republicans, given the current make up of the Senate.

While there are a cohort of Republicans who are voting against it, Thune made the point that every single Senate Democrat has shut it down each of the five times that it’s been brought to the floor in a variety of configurations.

And Thune is one of the Republicans that wants the bill passed — he’s an original co-sponsor of the SAVE Act, the precursor to the current version of the SAVE America Act. The avenue of cutting Democrats out of the equation and ramming through aspects of the bill through budget reconciliation exists, which Thune is interested in pursuing.

But then comes the problem of generating 50 votes to support that, and keeping those votes together to shut down «crazy democratic amendments.»

GOP RIFT GROWS AS THUNE HITS BRAKES ON TRUMP’S ELECTION BILL TO AVERT SHUTDOWN

Thune’s job helming the Senate majority is to do the math on what can be accomplished in an institution that’s «designed» to be difficult. And the votes still aren’t adding up.

«I keep asking the question, am I the only one in this town that can count to 50? Because it seems like these questions recur and there are a lot of people out there who haven’t seemed to internalize the fact that there aren’t Democrats that are going to flip and vote for this,» Thune said.

«And there aren’t 50 Republicans that are going to vote to nuke the filibuster. Those are two facts that are indisputable and unchangeable.»

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued that Democrats were continuing their push to keep DHS closed because it was «politically advantageous.» (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Thune’s position is, by extension, an embodiment of the Senate in many ways.

Unlike the House, legislation and agendas can’t be rammed through without a bipartisan agreement to blast through the filibuster. And senators’ concerns and desires encompass an entire state, not just a sliver of a state’s population.

Through several interviews with Fox News Digital, he’s instilled that part of his job is to listen and take consensus on what does and doesn’t work, deliberating on the best path for a deliverable outcome.

«This place was supposed to be difficult, so that no dictator could master it, and I think that’s kind of the role of the Senate in our system and our democracy,» Thune said.

«It’s important to keep that in perspective, but it’s frustrating as heck when you’re somebody who likes to get things done, likes to get results, and you’ve got procedural roadblocks holding things up as we try to wind down and get some things done,» he continued.