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Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker has yet to take the podium at Cornell University, but he’s already facing sharp backlash from critics who say his presence reflects deeper issues at the core of campus culture.
The event, which is part of the “Students Not Bombs” campaign, is being hosted on Sept. 24 by the university’s chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
Piker has a history of making controversial remarks, and famously said that America “deserved” 9/11, a statement that he later walked back and apologized for. He is also a vocal critic of Israel and U.S. foreign policy.
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Critics have already spoken out against the event, with the university’s Hillel calling Piker’s commentary “repulsive” in a statement posted to social media.
“The university is a place to learn, to argue, to explore, and to debate. Mr. Piker’s views, however, go against our values as Americans and Jews, and his hateful, antisemitic rhetoric is repulsive,” Grinspoon Hillel at Cornell said in a statement.
For William Jacobson, a clinical professor and director of the Securities Law Clinic at Cornell Law School, Piker’s appearance on campus is not a one-off event, rather it represents what he calls a “campaign of intimidation.”
“It’s not really surprising to me that the anti-Israel groups on campus have invited as incendiary a speaker as Hasan Piker. In fact, it’s very much in keeping with the tactics of intimidation that they’ve been doing really as long as I’ve been at Cornell — which is approaching 19 years — but which has ramped up dramatically after October 7,” Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
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Jacobson cited past incidents in which conservative speakers faced disruptions, such as former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Tea Party movement co-founder Michael Johns and Ann Coulter, who is a Cornell alumna.
In 2016, Santorum was heckled during an event at the university. He said that the protests at the Cornell event were demonstrating “liberal intolerance,” The Cornell Daily Sun reported.
The event with Johns in 2017 was made private on the advice of the Cornell University Police Department, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. Jacobson recalled that, despite the event being private, protesters found out where Johns was speaking and “banged on the doors.”
In 2022, Coulter was forced to end her event early after several attendees protested, eight of whom were removed from the room, the outlet also reported. The student newspaper noted that when Coulter returned to the university in 2024, she did not face the same amount of disruption, but one faculty member was arrested for disorderly behavior.
Cornell University did not respond to inquiries addressing Jacobson’s specific comments. But in a statement to Fox News Digital regarding the controversy surrounding Piker’s event, a university spokesperson emphasized that student-hosted speakers do not carry the institution’s official endorsement.
“Guest speakers invited by student groups undergo a thorough review to ensure an event can be hosted safely. They are not subject to an approval process around content,” the university spokesperson said. “The use of spaces by student groups does not represent an endorsement or approval of, or agreement with the theme of the event or the speech of its participants. As with any event, Cornell will respond appropriately to any reports of discrimination, incitement, or disruption.”
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While Cornell University maintains that all student groups have the ability to host speakers, Jacobson argues that even the coverage surrounding the events creates a distorted narrative on campus.
Jacobson criticized The Cornell Daily Sun’s framing of Piker’s event, saying the student newspaper’s characterization of the controversial Twitch streamer as a “left-wing political commentator” was overly generous.
“‘The Cornell Sun’ has depicted Hasan Piker as just merely a left-wing activist, and we all know that that’s not what he is. He’s beyond left-wing. He’s incendiary,” Jacobson said.
“To describe him in that superficial way like The Cornell Sun [sic] did, really, I think, does a disservice to its readers, because somebody just reading that wouldn’t understand why is this even controversial. And unfortunately, that’s something I’ve seen The Cornell Sun [sic] do repeatedly with regard to the anti-Israel movement on campus — they always tone it down.”
When reached for comment on Jacobson’s characterization of their coverage, The Cornell Daily Sun told Fox News Digital, “We appreciate the concern, and we understand that this visit matters deeply to many people in our community. A headline can only say so much, which is why we hope readers will look to our full coverage.”
“Our initial article discusses the controversy surrounding Mr. Piker, including his statement that ‘America deserved 9/11’ and his recent comments regarding Israel and American Jews. We have since published a second article sharing statements from Jewish student organizations on campus, along with further remarks by Mr. Piker and reactions from students ahead of his visit,” the statement read.
The student newspaper said it would “continue to report on” Piker’s event and the response on campus, adding, “We truly care about getting this story right, and about making sure the students most affected by it are heard in our coverage.”
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Jacobson emphasized that he was not calling for the event with Piker to be canceled, rather he was hoping it would start a dialogue about escalating political polarization on campus.
“In some sense, I am glad they invited him, because maybe now we can have an honest conversation on campus about how poisonous the movement is that is bringing him to campus. That’s the conversation we need to have, not ‘should we kick them off, should we block them,'” Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital reached out to Piker and the “Students Not Bombs” Cornell campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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