Gov. JB Pritzker avoided questions about Hasan Piker and his influence in the Democratic Party on Sunday, telling ABC's Jonathan Karl he didn't even want to talk about him. 

Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., avoided multiple questions about far-left streamer Hasan Piker on Sunday as he insisted his focus was on stopping President Donald Trump in his "tracks."

"I‘m not focused on the streamers and what they‘re saying. There‘s a whole lot of them and they got a whole lot of views," Pritzker said when asked by ABC's Jonathan Karl if the Democratic Party should outright denounce the streamer, citing Piker's position that Iran having a nuclear weapon would bring more stability to the Middle East.

Karl told Pritzker that Piker had a "pretty big following" online.

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"I understand that. I'm just saying that what I think we should be talking about and focused on is how do we stop Donald Trump in his tracks?" Pritzker responded. "How do we make sure that we‘re putting forward an agenda that really fights for the people who need it, which are the most vulnerable, the workers, you know, the middle class who really need someone to stand up for them. That‘s why I‘m a Democrat. That‘s why the Democratic Party exists. That‘s what we should be focused on."

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker holds a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, to sign the Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act (HB 5295) into law. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Karl asked Pritzker if he would accept an endorsement from Piker, before noting the streamer likely would not endorse the governor.

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"Again, I‘m not focused. I don‘t even want to talk about it. Hasan Piker doesn‘t mean anything to me or in my election," he said.

Piker has done multiple interviews in recent weeks in which he's been asked about some of his controversial political stances.

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"Do you think Iran should be free to build a nuclear weapon?" Axios correspondent Alex Thompson asked in an interview on Thursday.

"I think Iran, much like any other sovereign nation, has a right to defend itself, regardless of its domestic policies," Piker responded.

Twitch streamer Hasan Piker claimed that AIPAC was behind the wave of Democrats criticizing his rhetoric. (Florencia Tan Jun/Web Summit via Sportsfile via Getty Images)

The popular Twitch streamer went on to cite political scientist John Mearsheimer in the belief that "mutually assured destruction is the only way for countries to have sovereignty," something he said would bring regional stability.

"Now having said that, do I want Iran to have nuclear arms? No. But I also don't want America, or Russia, or China to have nuclear arms either," Piker said.

"Do you think the Middle East would be more stable if Iran had a nuclear weapon?" Thompson followed.

"I believe yes. I think that the Middle East would be more stable," Piker responded. In the same interview, Piker claimed the U.S. is responsible for more terrorism than al Qaeda "pound for pound."

Some Democrats have forcefully rejected Piker, including Rahm Emanuel, who issued a statement on X calling out Piker's positions.

"The great thing about America is that everyone is entitled to their opinions and free to express them, however dumb or immoral. That includes ‘Comrade’ Piker. The rest of us are just as free — obligated even — to call out this vile, hateful speech that only divides America," he wrote.

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Political strategist Kaivan Shroff told Fox News Digital in a statement, "Pritzker can say Hasan Piker doesn’t mean anything to him, but that’s increasingly hard to square with reality. Piker is showing up in Senate campaign ads, campaigning with Democratic candidates and publicly talking about his relationship with AOC’s team. At some point ‘he’s just a streamer’ stops being an answer. Streamers are part of the political media ecosystem now."

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"Democrats have spent years talking about the need to compete with Republicans in the influencer/podcast space. They can’t suddenly pretend influencers are irrelevant when one becomes inconvenient. The question isn’t whether Democrats should spend all day talking about Hasan Piker — of course they shouldn’t — and nor should they let the media’s disproportionate coverage of the issue go unaddressed," Shroff added. "But the real question 2028 candidates will have to answer is … who is in the big tent, and who is out…where is the line? And what angry loud online fanbase are they willing to p--- off in order to stand by their values?"

Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.

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