Does a video that shows political commentator Hasan Piker saying America should resume lynching Black people again reveal he is a racist? No, that's missing context: The racist comments were not made by Piker. The deceptively edited clips are of Piker criticizing someone else's racist comments, not making the argument himself.
The claim appeared in an Aug. 11, 2026, video posted on the X account @ScottJenningsKY (archived here). It opened:
Abdul El-Sayed's best pal and campaign partner says the USA should resume lynchings against black people.
Listen for yourself and understand what the socialists have in store for the black community
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @ScottJenningsKY on X.)
This is what the video looked like on X at the time of writing:
Abdul El-Sayed's best pal and campaign partner says the USA should resume lynchings against black people.
-- Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 12, 2026
Listen for yourself and understand what the socialists have in store for the black community pic.twitter.com/N3ntbIHefw
Piker was not in fact advocating for America to start lynching Black people again. These clips are taken out of context. Piker was reading out loud and condemning racist comments that were appearing in the chat during his livestream. Jennings edited the clips to make it appear that Piker was making racist comments when he was actually criticizing them. Piker posted on social media that he was considering suing Jennings for defamation.
This is what Jennings says as his video opens:
On top of these candidates in their own words their surrogates are just as bad, even worse actually. We continue today our exploration of the radical socialist streamer Hasan Piker. Now he's Abdul El-Sayed's best friend and he campaigns for him all the time And African Americans out there within the sound of my voice need to listen up. And you must listen carefully, this is who socialist like Abdul El-Sayed choose to keep for company. Just listen to this.
Here is what Piker says in the three clips within the video Jennings posted:
0:34: What Black people care about. Oh, Black people care about this. Black people care about that. Like shut the fuck up that's not how politics work. Oh, well, Hasan, how dare you? Like it or not, Black people care about this issue. It's like it's such a fucking stupid stance
0:50: Any other Black folk want to engage in radical activist language in this fucking chat?
0:54: Yes dude, it's because I'm racist. That's why. It's because I'm racist dude. Back to a better time when lynchings were happening. This is what I like as a Black man. Are you always doing too much with Black people? Leave them alone. I want to go back to lynching. Like, I get it, but relax man. Shut the fuck up, OK? You got me, OK? You got me because I'm a racist person.
The clip beginning at 0:54 in Jennings' video shows Piker wearing a white tank top. The original Piker video was posted in October 2024 on the YouTube account @HasanAbiVODs (archived here) and shows that Piker is criticizing the racist comment. The clip of Piker reading a racist comment begins at 6:53:32. It's clear Piker is denouncing the racist comment, not saying it himself:
Piker posted a video on Aug. 13, 2026, on his YouTube account @HasanAbi (archived here) titled, "I think it's time to sue," and pointed out that he was denouncing racist comments, not making them.
