Hasan Piker no-shows pro-communist event over alleged safety fears while mocking Trump assassination attempt

Piker, a self-described Marxist and popular streamer on the Twitch platform, was slated to appear as the headliner at an event hosted by the People's Forum in Manhattan, "Columbia & Palestine: A Test of Democracy - Featuring Hasan Piker & Guests," but he was a no-show. Instead, while the panel proceeded without him, he streamed his show live from New York City, which he called "Mamdanistan" for Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

He spent much of the six hours reading aloud articles and X posts about himself, at turns giddy, and then complaining about the "threats," "disparagement campaigns" and "smears" he'd received for spewing rhetoric that critics say has stoked a culture of political violence.

A fellow panelist told attendees that Piker withdrew due to "the level of attacks and targeting that he has been going through from the right and the left and right," following backlash after "the situation" with the attempted assassination on Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday.

The episode highlights intensifying scrutiny of rhetoric by leftists like Piker, following the assassination attempt, as critics point to a pattern of inflammatory comments and question the influence of online personalities during a volatile political moment. On Tuesday, writer Peter Hamby at liberal Puck News even acknowledged, "There is a rising miasma of conspiratorial thinking, dangerous fact-denying, and dehumanizing language that has taken hold on the American left." He singled out "clout-chasers."

Piker laughed at the joke and interjected: "That is the bar," a play off a slang term, "bars," popularized in hip-hop culture to refer to extremely good lyrics.

He continued, smiling: "'You have a glow like an expectant widow' is bars. I'm afraid to report that that is actually bars."

He continued, "Oh, yeah, Hasan was supposed to be with us tonight, and we had to do a last-minute call because of the level of attacks and targeting that he has been going through from the right and the left and, specifically, since last night, with the situation in the White House, there are people who are trying to point fingers to Hasan."

Mahdawi continued, "As we know, this is a whole war on truth. The system is trying to silence us and to censor us from speaking up for Palestine and from sharing our truth, because the truth has its own power. And we had to debate, as a team, with the People's Forum team, as well, whether if we should actually reschedule it or cancel it, and it wasn't as difficult of a decision as one might imagine, because we knew our North Star, and our North Star is to be with you and to empower ourself and to continue to share our truth."

He finished: "So while we are with you here tonight, Hasan is streaming right now and watching us." 

The crowd broke out in cheers.

The organization has played a visible role organizing agitators at far-left protests and demonstrations in New York City and across the country, often in coordination with a network of pro-communist nonprofits funded by Singham, including CodePink, co-founded by his wife, Jodie Evans.

He later told TV host Piers Morgan in April 2024 that he supports the chant, "Globalize the intifada," which critics say calls for violence against Jews and the state of Israel.

"I am perfectly comfortable with people chanting about the intifada," Piker said.

NYPD police officers have arrested hundreds of pro-intifada protesters at Columbia over the course of multiple anti-Israel demonstrations and on-campus encampments where agitators spray-painted buildings, restricted walkways and occupied the Butler Library in May 2025. Lawmakers and Columbia University investigations established rampant antisemitism among protesters targeting Jewish students.

But in its promotion for the event, the Singham-funded nonprofit framed a narrative of the students as victims of "surveillance, suspension and institutional resistance."

Meanwhile, as Piker mocked the assassination attempt on his livestream, a few pro-Trump supporters stood in front of the People's Forum entry door being interviewed on phone cameras as security guards ushered attendees safely into the event, walking past shelves packed with books by German philosopher Karl Marx, calling for a communist "revolution." 

On his livestream, Piker griped about being the victim of "Hasan Derangement Syndrome" and becoming "the poster boy of the left."

Fox News Digital reached out to Piker but did not receive a response.