Rep. Ilhan Omar is set to appear with far-left streamer Hasan Piker at a sold-out Minneapolis event days before the midterms, even as fellow Democrats brand the pairing polarizing and reckless.

Omar, D-Minn., plans to join Piker on Monday night at an event hosted by state Sen. Omar Fateh, a Democratic socialist running for mayor, with early voting already underway and the midterms just over a week away.

Fox News Digital reported the appearance has drawn sharp pushback from Minnesota Democrats who say Piker’s record makes him a liability with moderate and Jewish voters at the worst possible moment.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., called Piker’s rhetoric “polarizing and dangerous” and said embracing him is “a mistake.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s gubernatorial campaign labeled a number of his past statements “reckless and unacceptable.”

Other Democratic officials and party groups went further, urging Omar and Fateh to cancel the event outright rather than hand critics a closing-week gift.

Omar’s campaign calls it a big-tent play for young voters

Omar’s team brushed off the criticism. In a statement to FOX 9, the campaign said early voting among people under 40 is down and that Democrats must “do everything to get young people to the polls.”

"The Congresswoman knows the Democratic Party is a Big Tent party, and she's excited to join Senator Omar Fateh's event to mobilize young voters and get them to vote in this critical midterm election."

Piker commands millions of followers across social media. Fateh’s Minneapolis event is sold out. For Omar’s camp, that reach is the point. For other Democrats, the baggage that travels with it is the problem.

The timing lands while Omar already faces sustained federal attention on immigration questions, including an immigration fraud raid that reached her family circle.

Piker’s record forces Democrats onto defense

The streamer’s past comments are not obscure. In 2019 he said “America deserved 9/11,” a remark he later apologized for. On “Pod Save America” earlier this year he said he would “vote for Hamas over Israel every single time.”

He has also described Orthodox Jews as “inbred.” In August he went further:

"People don't f*** with Israel any longer. And if Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they're singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone will come around and take action not against Israel, mind you, but against American Jews."

Piker has rejected accusations of antisemitism. National Democrats have still distanced themselves from him over those statements, a fact that makes Omar’s decision to share a stage with him stand out.

The Washington Examiner noted the Minneapolis appearance was scheduled as a live podcast taping on Oct. 26, just over a week before Election Day, with many national Democrats already keeping their distance.

That same pressure track includes a Florida Republican’s expulsion push tied to the immigration probe surrounding Omar.

Party split risks landing on Jewish and moderate voters

University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs told FOX 9 the event would “create a split within the DFL.” He argued it could distract statewide Democrats from their closing message and put candidates in a difficult position with moderate and Jewish voters.

"create a split within the DFL"

Breitbart reported the same internal backlash, noting Craig’s warning, the Klobuchar campaign’s rebuke, and broader calls for Omar and Fateh to scrub the appearance before Election Day.

Piker’s political track record is mixed even on the left. He backed Francesca Hong, who lost Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary in August 2026. The audience he brings is large. The coalition cost is real.

Omar’s legal and political exposure has only grown more complicated as federal agents seized her passport and devices while building a broader case.

Optics collide with a party trying to close a campaign

The New York Post framed the Minneapolis appearance as Omar cozying up to Piker, underscoring how the visuals travel far beyond Minnesota once national outlets and entertainment desks amplify them.

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s campaign, Fateh, and Piker for additional comment and did not immediately receive a response beyond the campaign’s earlier defense of the event.

Democrats who spent months trying to wall off extreme rhetoric now watch one of their own high-profile members share a bill with a streamer whose Israel comments and 9/11 remark still define him for large parts of the electorate.

Some party voices once rushed to Omar’s side after federal scrutiny, including high-profile defenses after an HSI raid, but the Piker booking shows how quickly unity frays when the next controversy arrives. Readers following that arc can revisit how Obama jumped to Omar’s defense in an earlier round of the same fight.

Omar’s campaign says the Democratic Party is a big tent and young voters need a push. Craig, Klobuchar’s team, and other Minnesota Democrats say this guest is not a turnout strategy, it is a closing-week liability.

When party leaders warn that a last-minute stage share with a polarizing streamer will split their own coalition and alienate Jewish and moderate voters, and the member still walks on anyway, voters can judge whose interests come first.