David Beamer, father of Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer, appears in a new campaign ad attacking Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed over his refusal to fully disavow streamer Hasan Piker, who once said America “deserved 9/11.”
The ad, released Monday by Great Lakes HQ, was produced by the Great Lakes Conservative Fund, a super PAC backing Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers. It opens with a 2019 clip of Piker making the “deserved 9/11” remark, followed by footage of El-Sayed appearing on Piker’s Twitch livestream and a separate clip showing El-Sayed declining to disavow Piker when asked directly.
Beamer narrates the ad and introduces his son, one of the passengers who fought back against hijackers aboard United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.
“Those 43 people on Flight 93 were not victims. They were killed in action. When I hear anyone suggest America ‘deserves 9/11’ my question is, ‘Who would say that?'” Beamer says in the ad.
El-Sayed has repeatedly condemned Piker’s 9/11 comment but has stopped short of cutting ties with the streamer entirely. Piker campaigned alongside El-Sayed during the Democratic primary.
Elizabeth Pipko, a former Republican National Committee spokesperson, told Fox News Digital that families of 9/11 victims should not still be fighting to protect their loved ones’ legacies a quarter-century later.
“How incredibly disappointing that, 25 years after those horrific attacks, Todd Beamer’s family is still unable to simply mourn their son and speak about his heroism. Instead, they find themselves having to teach their fellow Americans a lesson they themselves wish they never had to learn,” Pipko said.
She added: “Todd Beamer’s family knows better than most the pain that anti-American sentiment and terrorism can inflict on us all. Todd’s character, and the American spirit of grit and guts he embodied, is what we should not only remember, but also look for in the leaders we elect to serve our great country. In honor of Todd Beamer and all the brave Americans taken from us too soon, we have a job to do — in November and beyond.”
Theo Wold, a former assistant attorney general and former White House deputy assistant for domestic policy under President Trump, said the controversy will keep trailing El-Sayed’s campaign unless he breaks with Piker completely.
“Antifa Democrats and their friends in the media say a lot of dangerous and incendiary things. Hasan Piker, who endorses political violence and has denigrated the Americans killed on September 11th, has repeatedly campaigned alongside his friend El Sayed,” Wold said. “El Sayed refuses to denounce Piker not just because they’re friends but Leftists like them don’t believe there are any boundaries when they are pursuing their ideological goals.”
Fox News Digital reached out to a group representing Gold Star Families, the El-Sayed campaign, and the Rogers campaign but did not immediately receive a response.
