Democrats have an extremism problem, and it’s not clear how they can solve it. After yet another gunman tried to assassinate President Donald Trump at last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, liberals nobly renewed their commitment to moderation. “We need LESS violence in America, not MORE violence in America,” wrote CNN’s Van Jones. Quite right. But the American Left has not exactly put itself in a good position to calm down its radicals.

Consider: last Wednesday, the New York Times hosted superstar streamer Hasan Piker for a podcast with writer Jia Tolentino. Piker has fantasized on camera about murdering landlords and once told his viewers that “If you cared about Medicare fraud or Medicaid fraud, you would kill [Florida Senator] Rick Scott.” He joked with Tolentino about “microlooting”—that is, shoplifting—and equivocated about whether UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson deserved to die at the hands of his alleged murderer, Luigi Mangione.

Thompson “was engaging in a tremendous amount of social murder,” said Piker, citing Friedrich Engels to suggest that the killing was retribution for “systematized forms of violence” in the healthcare system. Piker is just one online celebrity, but the problem is that he represents a significant portion of the base that Democrats must now cater to. One survey found that 41% of young voters, and 22% of Democrats, considered Mangione’s actions “acceptable.”

This will make it hard for mainstream politicians to tack toward the center without alienating their most youthful, energetic supporters—especially since many Democrats have been enthusiastically courting those supporters since 2020. That June, following the death of George Floyd, then-senator Kamala Harris solicited donations to cover bail for rioters and looters in Minnesota. Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and other congressional Democrats donned Ghanaian Kente-cloth stoles and knelt in a display of solidarity with protesters as they proposed unworkable and dangerous police reform. For a good long while, it was not only encouraged but almost compulsory on the Left to side with criminals in the name of social justice. None of this was a secret; all of it was put proudly on record.

Not only that, but to dissent from the maximalist position in these matters, even slightly, was portrayed as a ghastly betrayal that could only be motivated by rank prejudice. “All this anti-woke stuff is just anti-Black. Period. Full stop,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom just last year. If that’s the case, then it’s hard to see how 2028 presidential hopefuls like Newsom can moderate in any meaningful way without falling into the jaws of their own logic: either you’re woke, or you’re a cretin. That is not the sort of stance one can gracefully adjust or walk back without considerable awkwardness.

And so, as William Voegeli observed in the Claremont Review of Books, “Even when moderates do emerge from the Democrats’ process of selecting nominees, a correlation of forces within the party combines with shrewd politicians’ flexibility of conviction to accelerate the leftward shift.” The Hasanization of the party, in other words, may be hard to resist. Try as they might to avoid it, Democrats might be forced to swallow the Piker Pill.

For instance, last November, Ezra Klein of the New York Times was lamenting that “the Democratic Party has made room on its left and closed down on its right,” suggesting a more balanced approach would be effective against the polarizing force of Trumpism. But by April of this year, Klein was making qualified excuses for Piker in a column initially headlined “Hasan Piker is not the enemy.” The Tolentino podcast followed shortly thereafter.

You can court bloodthirsty Marxists, or you can build a wide-ranging coalition of the sensible, but it’s hard to do both at once. Democrats might like to recast themselves as the cool-headed alternatives to Trump’s reckless villainy. But all the momentum and media clout are with Piker—and with young celebrity politicians who feel comfortable making high-profile public appearances alongside him, like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Regrettably, this could be what peak Democrat performance looks like from now on: callow, clickable, and aggressively extreme on social and economic issues.

That’s not obviously a winning brand. But it could be the only viable one going. If so, then Democrats don’t actually get to choose whether to court the far-left or recast themselves as sensible centrists. They already chose back in 2020, and they chose Peak Woke.

The post Is Hasan Piker the Face of the American Left? appeared first on The American Mind.

Thursday on Newmax TV's "On the Record," President Donald Trump said artificial intelligence would "lead to tremendous numbers of jobs."

The post Trump: AI Will Lead to ‘Tremendous Numbers of Jobs’ appeared first on Breitbart.

The Senate has unanimously voted to pass Sen. Bernie Moreno's (R-OH) bill banning senators and their staffs from using prediction markets.

The post Senate Passes Bernie Moreno Bill Banning Use of Prediction Markets appeared first on Breitbart.

For Indiana Fever fans, the good news from last night's game is that you saw some of last year's Caitlin Clark. Also, the bad news is, you saw some of last year's Caitlin Clark.

The post VIDEO: Caitlin Clark’s Exits Preseason Game After Scary Turn of Events appeared first on Breitbart.

Thursday on CNN's "NewsNight," Republican analyst Scott Jennings got into a heated exchange with so-called anti-Trump influencer Adam Mockler.

The post ‘Get Your F—ing Hand Out of My Face’: CNN’s Jennings Gets into Heated Exchange with Liberal over Iran appeared first on Breitbart.

Thursday on CNN's "NewsNight," Republican analyst Scott Jennings got into a heated exchange with so-called anti-Trump influencer Adam Mockler.

The post ‘Get Your Hand Out of My F—ing Face’: CNN’s Jennings Gets Has Heated Exchange with Liberal over Iran appeared first on Breitbart.

While former McDonald’s employee Kamala Harris said stuff, a saxophone player fell fast asleep.

The post Nolte: Saxophone Player Sleeps While Kamala Harris Speaks appeared first on Breitbart.

Comedienne Kathy Griffin defended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after President Trump called for his firing.

The post Video: Kathy Griffin Defends Jimmy Kimmel After Trump Calls for His Firing appeared first on Breitbart.

It’s not often that CNN commentator Scott Jennings loses his cool, so when he does, it’s sure to make headlines. Jennings – usually the sole voice of reason on CNN’s […]

The post GRAPHIC: Fed-up Scott Jennings Snaps, Takes Down Arrogant CNN Guest Who Gets Too Close for Comfort During Heated Debate appeared first on The Western Journal.

Security footage near the magnetometers used by law enforcement at the White House Correspondents' Dinner appears to show a K9 pick up on the alleged attacker and move toward him, only to have the K9 handler pull the dog back.

The post VIDEO: K9 Handler Allegedly Pulls Dog Back After It Flags WHCD Attacker appeared first on Breitbart.

Vivian Kubrick, the daughter of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, attacked Erika Kirk -- the widow of slain conservative icon Charlie Kirk -- on Thursday, before calling on President Donald Trump to "kill" Turning Point USA.

The post Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick’s Daughter Vivian Attacks Erika Kirk, Demands Trump ‘Kill’ Turning Point USA appeared first on Breitbart.