{"id":335367,"date":"2026-09-02T08:59:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/hasan-piker-cheerleads-progressives-as-80-year-old-senator-wins-six-more-years.html"},"modified":"2026-09-02T08:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:59:48","slug":"hasan-piker-cheerleads-progressives-as-80-year-old-senator-wins-six-more-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/hasan-piker-cheerleads-progressives-as-80-year-old-senator-wins-six-more-years.html","title":{"rendered":"Hasan Piker cheerleads progressives as 80-year-old senator wins six more years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">     <span class=\"overlay\" data-v-7b1896ea=\"\">Video<\/span><\/a> <!--&gt; \n\n<h4 class=\"title\" data-v-7b1896ea=\"\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Top 5 moments from final Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary debate<\/a><\/h4>\n\n \n\n<p data-v-7b1896ea=\"\">Incumbent Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., faced off over transgender athletes, ICE, socialism and term limits in their final debate before the Sept. 1 Democratic primary. (Credit: WCVB)<\/p>\n\n \n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Hasan Piker<\/a>, a controversial Twitch streamer and far-left activist who has supported several challengers against moderate Democrats, celebrated the victory of Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in a primary contest that pitted the 80-year-old progressive stalwart against a far younger and more centrist candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">\"It\u2019s very clear that the Dem voters care more about policies and having a progressive represent them in the Senate than age! Another w for our movement!\" <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Piker wrote<\/a> on X after Markey defeated Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who is 33 years his junior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Markey defeated Moulton, who centered his campaign on generational change, by casting himself as the race's true progressive. He repeatedly questioned Moulton's progressive credentials while continuing to <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">push for transgender rights<\/a>, particularly in sports \u2014 a position many Democrats have shied away from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>DEMOCRATS\u2019 GENERATIONAL BATTLE ERUPTS AS 80-YEAR-OLD SENATOR FACES YOUNGER CHALLENGER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>Former Democrat operative Evan Barker says the party needs to realize that controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is quickly becoming the face of their movement.<\/span> <span>(Julia Demaree\/AP Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The position, which Republicans have used as a political rallying cry on the campaign trail and which Democrats have largely avoided as they push to flip both chambers of Congress, is one that Moulton argued played a major role in Democrats' losses across the board in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"Trans athletes should be able to play,\" Markey told <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">The New York Times.<\/a> \"That reflects Massachusetts and who we are. And Seth Moulton does not.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Markey has also supported aggressive legislation on climate change, a platform that helped win over even groups that center around younger audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"VICTORY! Congratulations to Ed Markey on his victory in Massachusetts tonight. Sen. Markey has been a leading climate champion in the fight for a Green New Deal to create jobs and lower costs for working people,\" the Sunrise Movement <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">said in a statement<\/a> to X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>HOUSE PROGRESSIVES REVIVE GREEN NEW DEAL FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS DEM CIVIL WAR EMPOWERS FAR LEFT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>Sen. Ed Markey, the more progressive of the two candidates, has the backing of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley.<\/span> <span>(Jemal Countess\/Getty Images for MoveOn Civic Action)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The group describes itself as a \"movement of young people fighting fascism to win a Green New Deal.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">David Axelrod, a top political consultant and former advisor to President Barack Obama, noted that Markey hadn\u2019t always been a darling of the progressive left ahead of Tuesday\u2019s election. He credited Markey\u2019s pivot for his political longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"[Ed Markey] was first elected to Congress 50 yrs ago as a social conservative, opposed to abortion rights and school busing,\" Axelrod said in his own <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">post to X.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"Now 80, he's likely to sail in tonight's primary in MA, despite his age, because, in his Golden Years, he's grabbed on to the Green New Deal, <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Medicare for All<\/a>, trans rights and other marquee priorities of the Left, undergirding himself against younger, more moderate challengers in very blue MA.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Sen. <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Bernie Sanders<\/a>, I-Vt., also praised Markey's win. Like Markey, Sanders, 84, continues to shape the progressive movement despite the decades between him and many of its younger candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"Congratulations to Ed Markey on his landslide victory in the Democratic Massachusetts Senate primary. Ed knows that, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, Congress must take on the billionaires and fight for working families,\" Sanders <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">wrote.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>AOC ENDORSES SEN ED MARKEY AS INCUMBENT FACES DEM US SENATE PRIMARY CHALLENGE FROM REP SETH MOULTON<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hugs Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) as they speak at a news conference on the launch of the American Climate Corps outside the U.S. Capitol building on September 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.<\/span> <span>(Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Having cleared the primary election, Markey now heads to the general on Nov. 3, where he is heavily favored to win in the deep-blue Bay State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Markey last won reelection in a 66.2% to 33.0% victory over Republican challenger Kevin O\u2019Connor, a local attorney.<\/p>\n\n --> <!--&gt; \n\n<p>Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.<\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n<p>Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/hasan-piker-cheerleads-progressives-80-year-old-senator-wins-six-more-years<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/hasan-piker-cheerleads-progressives-80-year-old-senator-wins-six-more-years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-335367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}