The New York Times quietly swapped the headline on a contentious op-ed about Hasan Piker — the far-left Twitch streamer notorious for declaring “America deserved 9/11” — following backlash over a column that cast the pro-Palestinian firebrand as “not the enemy.”
Ezra Klein, a left-leaning opinion writer for the Gray Lady, penned a column on Sunday that was originally headlined: “Hasan Piker Is Not the Enemy.”
The Times then changed the headline, which as of Monday morning read: “This Is Why There’s No Liberal Joe Rogan.”
In the piece, Klein weighs in on the debate among Democrats over whether mainstream party politicians should appear on Piker’s Twitch streams. He also called on Dems running for office to appear on podcasts hosted by those who have been critical of their party, like Joe Rogan.
“I have deep disagreements with Piker, but he isn’t a ‘Jew hater.’ He’s an anti-Zionist,” Klein wrote. “And here, I think, the real stakes of this fight come into view.”
X users took the Times to task for the headline change, with some accusing Klein and the paper of sanitizing Piker’s views.
“Wow — hey @nytimes are you gonna explain to your readers why you changed the headline to this @ezraklein piece about @hasanthehun? Who did you capitulate to?” one account posted.
“Even the @nytimes was embarrassed by a headline declaring that the man who said ‘America deserved 9/11’ isn’t the enemy,” another user wrote. “They didn’t change the story defending Hasan Piker, but at least they made the title a little less obvious.”
“It’s crazy watching the moderate left defend Piker. This guy is basically Nick Fuentes of the left but he gets invited to Oscar parties, is objectively evil in very obvious ways, and is not very smart,” one X user wrote. “Why circle the wagons for this guy?”
Hen Mazzig, a pro-Israel commentator, wrote on X: “It’s a comforting notion, that if we just allow people to spread lies and hate about our brothers and sisters in Israel, they’ll hate Jews in the diaspora a little less.
“But the reality is, hate — yes, including that hate that calls for the dissolution of the world’s one Jewish state and the home of half of Jews living — has little to do with our actions.”
Robby Soave, a writer for the libertarian-leaning Reason, wrote that while “allegations of anti-Semitism are probably exaggerated” in Piker’s case, “it’s telling that [Klein] doesn’t engage at all with Hasan Piker fawning over Chinese authoritarianism.”
A Times spokesperson told The Post that it is routine for the newspaper to “test” several headlines.
“We often write several accurate headlines for a piece and test them,” Times rep Charlie Stadtlander wrote in an email.
“Then we go with the one that most engages readers. That’s precisely what we did here.”
Piker, who boasts more than 3 million followers on Twitch, has long been a lightning rod for controversy, most notably after he declared during a 2019 livestream that “America deserved 9/11” — remarks that led to a suspension from Twitch and continue to dog him years later.
He has also drawn scrutiny for rhetoric about political violence. Last year, Piker said, “If you cared about Medicare fraud or Medicaid fraud, you would kill Rick Scott,” a Republican US senator for Florida, prompting another temporary suspension from the platform.
The streamer has repeatedly clashed with Twitch over its content policies, including a ban tied to his use of the term “cracker,” which he defended publicly as not comparable to other racial slurs.
Piker has also been criticized for platforming controversial figures.
In 2024, he interviewed a Yemeni man described in media reports as having ties to Houthi militants, with Piker insisting afterward that the individual was “not a part of any militancy” — a claim that sparked concerns about amplifying propaganda.
Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, has been among Piker’s most forceful critics, calling him “one of the most outspoken, virulent antisemitic influencers in the world.”
The ADL has repeatedly accused Piker of justifying Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks on Israel and amplifying extremist narratives, citing his commentary on Israel and interviews with figures linked in coverage to terrorist groups.
Piker has denied accusations of extremism, often framing his commentary as political critique
The Post has sought comment from Piker.
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