A political ad has criticized U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed for refusing to disavow remarks by socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who claimed America “deserved” the 9/11 terror attacks.
The advertisement features David Beamer, father of Todd Beamer—a passenger on United Flight 93 during the 2001 terrorist attack—recounting his son’s life and heroic actions.
“Some of you have heard about my son,” David Beamer says in the video, showing photos of Todd with his two young sons and his pregnant wife, Lisa. “He had little boys age three and a half and one and a half. He had a wife, Lisa. She was five months pregnant.”
Todd Beamer was on United Flight 93 when Islamic terrorists hijacked the plane with intent to crash it into a prominent building in Washington, D.C. During the crisis, Todd and other passengers took control after being overheard by a phone operator who described how they made a decision: “They took a vote and decided, ‘We need to fight back.’ Then they responded to him, and he said, ‘OK. Let’s roll.’”
The ad states that Todd’s actions and those of the passengers and crew likely saved many American lives as the plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field instead of hitting its intended target. “Those 43 people on Flight 93 were not victims,” David Beamer says. “They were killed in action.”
He concludes: “When I hear anyone suggest America deserves 9/11, my question is: Who would say that?”
The ad includes a segment where Hasan Piker previously stated on livestreamed video in 2019: “America deserved 9/11, dude.”
El-Sayed has refused to disavow Piker’s views, stating: “I’m not here to disavow people’s views.”
In August, El-Sayed referred to Piker’s comments as “dumb” but did not indicate he would stop campaigning with the streamer.
The advertisement has drawn significant online attention and urged voters to reject El-Sayed in favor of Republican Mike Rogers.
