Hasan Piker didn't take Francesca Hong's loss quietly. The left-wing streamer had become one of the Wisconsin state representative's most visible surrogates, and when Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly beat her, Piker warned that Democratic insiders would stop underestimating the socialist left.
"The knives will be out," he said.
UPDATE: Abdulrahman Mohamed El Sayed surrogate Hasan Piker just said "THE KNIVES ARE OUT" after socialist Francesca Hong lost the Democrat primary in Wisconsin
— Sergeant News Network (@sgtnewsnetwork) August 12, 2026
"The knives will be out!"@hasanthehun @abdulelsayed @dsa @democrats @francescahongwi @fbi @fbidirectorkash… pic.twitter.com/N4LuG9ypHx
Hong's defeat deserves more attention than another angry night on a livestream. The Democratic Socialists of America called her gubernatorial campaign its "marquee contest" for Aug. 11.
Crowley then beat her by less than half a point after Hong had spent weeks looking like the likely nominee.
From the Associated Press:
Crowley overcame Francesca Hong in dramatic fashion in Tuesday’s primary, stunning pundits and pollsters who had long placed Hong as the front-runner. That means Crowley’s challenger, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, must pivot to face a Democrat known for working across the aisle with Republicans as the county executive in Milwaukee, the state’s largest source of Democratic voters.
Crowley immediately leans into Tiffany’s ties with Trump
After a unity event with Hong and others on Wednesday, Crowley pledged to build a broad coalition — including Hong’s progressive, populist backers — to take on Tiffany by zeroing in on the Republican’s support for the Make America Great Again movement.
“This isn’t establishment versus progressive. This isn’t insider versus outsider,” Crowley said. “This is Democrats defeating a MAGA extremist in Congressman Tom Tiffany and that’s what we should be focusing on moving forward.”
It will be easier for Tiffany to pivot away from his ties with Trump and unpopular federal policies because he’s running for governor and not Congress, said former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a Trump supporter.
“He’s got to be on point, on message every time that comes up, and say, ‘That’s not what’s on the ballot,’” Walker told The Associated Press. “What’s on the ballot is who’s going to be governor the next four years.”
But former Republican state Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz, who opposes Trump, said Crowley makes the path “way harder for Tiffany.”
“It’s going to force the campaign back to the issues that people care about like affordability, the war in Iran and the cost of healthcare,” Schultz said.
Piker's response sounded like notice of a coming intraparty fight. He argued the establishment would "continue to undermine us" and later conceded he probably never should've become Hong's biggest surrogate.
His second admission may have been the most useful thing he said all night.
Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, immediately joined the argument. She called campaigning with Piker a "death trap," especially in a general election.
This guy was Hong’s biggest surrogate. As I have said, campaigning with Piker is a death trap - possibly in a primary but certainly in the general election. https://t.co/jFuZr4eFup
— Neera Tanden🌻 (@neeratanden) August 12, 2026
Piker countered that national progressives could've eased the electability concerns surrounding Hong.
From the Associated Press:
In marquee Senate primaries in Michigan and Minnesota, progressive candidates defeated two members of Congress with significant backing from party leaders. Wisconsin voters narrowly rejected a democratic socialist but still chose a 40-year-old county executive who is seeking to become the state’s first Black governor. And in Connecticut, voters ousted one of the longest-serving Democrats in Congress for a challenger who campaigned on generational change.
The results so far this month deliver no clear ideological mandate. Instead, they add to mounting evidence from this year’s primaries of a Democratic appetite for turnover that is cutting across the party’s traditional divisions.
“The through line between these races isn’t ideology. It’s impatience with this political system that feels disconnected from the urgency voters feel,” said Lis Smith, a national Democratic strategist. “The demand for change is much broader than the demand for socialism.”
The immediate challenge for Democrats is whether they can harness the frustration fueling revolts against their own party and turn it against Republicans in November. Beyond that looms the 2028 presidential race, when a new generation of leaders will compete to shape a changing Democratic Party.
“If leaders in our party don’t recognize that we need to make changes, then the changes are going to come from the ground up,” Luke Bronin, a former mayor who defeated 14-term Connecticut Rep. John Larson in Tuesday’s primary, said in his victory speech. “That’s a message our party needs to hear.”
Conservatives can enjoy watching the Democratic camps attack each other, but Wisconsin raises a bigger question. Did voters expose a limit the socialist movement hasn't wanted to acknowledge?
DSA isn't disappearing; its endorsed candidates have scored victories around the country, and progressive candidates outside the organization have won major Democrat primaries.
One Wisconsin loss doesn't erase those successes.
Wisconsin presented a harder test. DSA wanted a governor in one of America's most closely divided states. Hong had organization, national attention, grassroots enthusiasm, and a substantial polling lead, yet she lost to a candidate who suspended his campaign a month ago, jumped back in 10 days later, and rallied support from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Voters may be saying something Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have trouble saying plainly.
Democratic socialism can win Democrat primaries, but some candidates carrying its label may be too risky for voters thinking about November.
Party leaders have to manage socialists, progressives, unions, moderates, suburban voters, and major donors without driving any faction away. Primary voters face no such obligation. They can look at a candidate, decide they've seen enough, and vote accordingly.
Hong's loss won't end the DSA movement, but it may force Democrats to decide how much of the movement they want attached to candidates running statewide.
Piker seems ready for the fight, and his "knives" warning made his intentions clear.
Now we find out how many Democrat voters are willing to fight back.
The fight between the Democratic establishment and its socialist wing is only getting started, and we’ll keep following where it leads. Join PJ Media VIP today and get 60% off with promo code FIGHT while supporting independent conservative journalism.
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