Buttigieg Hedges on El-Sayed’s Piker Ties as Michigan Senate Race Reaches Election Day

With Michigan voters casting ballots in the race to fill an open U.S. Senate seat, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gave an ambiguous answer on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s association with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker.

The CNBC host asked Buttigieg whether El-Sayed’s ties to Piker would be disqualifying, and separately whether Buttigieg would distance himself from Piker’s comments or from the association itself. Buttigieg responded with a single answer to both questions.

“Yeah, the answer to your question is yes, and again, one thing I find is that I never meet somebody that I agree with on 100% of everything,” Buttigieg said.

The response left open to interpretation whether Buttigieg meant the Piker association would be disqualifying for El-Sayed, or simply that he personally disagrees with some of Piker’s remarks.

Piker’s campaign role and comments

Piker campaigned extensively alongside El-Sayed during the Democratic primary. In the campaign’s final weekend, Piker compared a Jewish Detroit suburb to a “Klan, KKK neighborhood” while discussing El-Sayed canvassers knocking on doors there. El-Sayed distanced himself from a related Rebellion PAC ad but has not directly disavowed Piker.

Stevens breaks with her party

Two days before Buttigieg’s CNBC appearance, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan’s 11th District endorsed Republican nominee Mike Rogers over El-Sayed. Stevens cited El-Sayed’s association with Piker as one reason for the endorsement and said she remains a Democrat. She had previously said she would vote for El-Sayed, making her endorsement of Rogers a reversal from her earlier position.

The endorsement came after Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina attempted to organize a joint appearance by Stevens and El-Sayed at Perfecting Church in Detroit as a show of party unity. That plan did not come together. When Stevens arrived at the church Sunday, it was Rogers, not El-Sayed, who greeted her.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Stevens’s endorsement of Rogers a “betrayal.”

The race between El-Sayed and Rogers is one of several contests being decided on Election Day that could shape the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.