Saikat Chakrabarti and Hasan Piker’s Controversial Encounter

Congressional hopeful Saikat Chakrabarti recently spent time with the online figure Hasan Piker at Key Food Market in San Francisco, referring to him as a “friend” and a “good person.”

This meeting occurred shortly after a video surfaced showing Piker unleashing a profanity-laden tirade against Asian Americans. In this video, he made derogatory remarks, calling them “white dogs” and even told a Vietnamese refugee woman to “fuck you, grandma” while justifying why some locals opted to vote for Donald Trump.

Chakrabarti, who served as a staff member for progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, seems to embrace his connection with Piker. It’s noteworthy that Chakrabarti is campaigning to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a city where approximately a third of residents are Asian.

As of now, Chakrabarti hasn’t publicly commented on the controversy surrounding Piker’s remarks.

On April 4, Chakrabarti shared a clip from their visit on his campaign account. During their stop at the market, he introduced Piker to the shop owner and even played with the owner’s cat, which amusingly jumped onto Piker’s shoulder.

Chakrabarti remarked, “When a cat wants to jump on you, that’s how you know you’re a good person, right?” In response, Piker expressed his support for Chakrabarti, telling the store owners, “We have to get him back.”

Later, during a stream, Piker discussed their outing, mentioning that Chakrabarti led leftist streamers around notable San Francisco sites after he spoke at the University of San Francisco Law School.

Interestingly, Chakrabarti has had past relationships with streamers, as noted during his early 2023 appearance on Piker’s stream, where he highlighted his progressive agenda. Piker, at one point, even praised Chakrabarti’s performance, humorously accusing him of evading every question posed.

Chakrabarti is currently in a race against state Sen. Scott Wiener and state Supervisor Connie Chan for the House seat.