NEWS PROVIDED BY
Catholic League
Aug. 20, 2026
NEW YORK, Aug. 20, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — The following is submitted by Bill Donohue, President, Catholic League:
At the macro level, the left-wing insurgents who dominate the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are clearly energized by ideology, but on closer inspection, at the micro level what fires them is something much more banal—hatred. Their hatred is vented at Western civilization, our Judeo-Christian roots, capitalism and democracy.
Catholic social teachings lean left, which is to say they favor a more egalitarian order, one that entails a “preferential option for the poor.” Those teachings are motivated by a passion for justice, and do not reflect an animus against the rich. Today’s activists in the DSA movement are entirely different—they hate the rich, allowing exceptions, of course, for themselves and those of their ilk.
Social influencer Hasan Piker is a splendid example of today’s left-wing fanatics. What fuels him is hatred, not a desire for economic and social amelioration.
Piker recently visited Cuba, one of the world’s most poverty stricken and oppressed countries on earth, conditions made possible because of the very ideology he espouses. Communism, not socialism, is what marks the Cuban experience. He thinks they are doing a great job.
Earlier this year, Piker heralded the Soviet Union, a nation that under Stalin was responsible for the slaughter of over 60 million people. He said that “the fall of the USSR was one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century.” Mao Zedong was responsible for the slaughter of approximately 77 million people, yet Piker regards him as “one of the great leaders of this world.”
Piker’s love for genocidal maniacs is a reflection of his hatred of elites who don’t share his vision of society. He is not against all elites—he loves the ruling class in communist nations. His hatred of capitalist elites explains why he defends the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He deserved to die.
Like his hero Mao, Piker rails against rich people even though he is one of them. Mao’s communist system impoverished his people, but that didn’t stop him from living high—he owned 50 villas. Similarly, Piker is a 35-year-old whose net worth is $8 million, and he likes to flaunt it—he drives around in a $200,000 Porsche.
The Muslim multimillionaire also doesn’t like Christians. He especially doesn’t like “Christian supremacists.” Who might they be? People like a Vietnamese woman he berated last year because she was pro-Trump. But he saves his real hatred for Jews—it’s pathological.
Piker has no problem with terrorists who kill Jews.
“I do not have a single issue with Hezbollah,” the Lebanese terrorists. Nor does he have a problem with the Houthis, the terrorists from Yemen, contending that what they are doing is “not only moral, but it’s just.” As for the mass rapes of innocent Israeli women by Hamas on October 7, 2023, he insists it never took place. To those who argue that what occurred has been documented by the U.N. and many international observers, he blithely responds that it “doesn’t matter if rapes happened on Oct. 7.”
He calls Israeli Orthodox Jews “inbreds” and “psychopaths” who suffer from a “mental illness.” To those Jews who say they are “liberal Zionists,” he snaps, “It’s like saying you’re like a liberal Nazi.”
Any person who believes that “America deserved 9/11” is a moral monster, but that is exactly what Piker says. He is riddled with hatred, and so are his most devoted fans.
Anyone who thinks that people like Piker can be reached if they are better educated is fooling himself. For education to work, the recipient must first be open to being persuaded. If they are, they can change their mind if provided with evidence that contravenes their thinking. But when deep-seated hatred is the basis of one’s perspective, all the data and empirical research in the world will never matter.
The only thing that counts for these people are feelings, and when irrationally proves controlling, the prospects for persuasion are doomed from the get-go.
SOURCE Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
CONTACT: 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org