Michigan lefty in swing district House race once gushed over Hasan Piker: ‘You’re the man!’

"You're the man!" is not the kind of message you send to someone you're trying to hold at arm's length. William Lawrence, running as a democratic socialist in a Michigan swing district, sent it to Hasan Piker, a streamer whose whole brand is telling millions of viewers that America is basically the villain of every story it's in. Lawrence wanted airtime on the guy's stream. That's not an accidental like on an old tweet. That's a candidate actively courting the approval of someone who has cheered on America's enemies and mocked the idea that this country deserves any benefit of the doubt.

The defenders will say it's just internet culture, that everyone under 40 has some embarrassing DMs somewhere. Fine. But this isn't a private text between friends, it's a political strategy. Lawrence saw Piker's audience and wanted in on it. That tells voters something real about who he thinks his coalition is and whose validation he's chasing. You don't seek out a platform by accident.

Swing district voters in Michigan aren't looking for a congressman who's trying to impress the guy who calls cops "state-sanctioned gangs" and treats every American military action as evidence of national guilt. They're looking for someone who'll fight for their jobs, their kids' schools, their communities. Lawrence can call himself whatever he wants on the ballot, but chasing clout from Hasan Piker tells you exactly where his instincts actually sit, and it's not with the district he's asking to represent.