Hasan Piker, Depicting Himself as the Zoomer Rush Limbaugh, Twists the Legacy of Talk Radio Titan

A leftist Twitch streamer, Hasan Piker, is casting himself as this generation’s Rush Limbaugh. It’s a good idea to emulate a legend. But as a former member of the late host’s “highly overrated staff,” this columnist can tell Mr. Piker that he’ll need to decide: Does Mr. Piker want to be, as Limbaugh described himself, a “lovable little fuzzball” or the mythical hater that detractors imagine?Mr. Piker made the comparison to the Financial Times in the U.K., which he’s banned from entering, on Thursday. The outlet wrote that he finds comparisons with the “manosphere” of “brocasters,” Joe Rogan among them, “insulting.” He “sees himself more as a shock jock of the left: ‘Rush Limbaugh … but for Zoomers.’”This latest attempt by a talker to anoint himself as Limbaugh’s heir amused his wife and co-author of the Rush Revere series for children, Kathryn Adams Limbaugh. “Rush would be proud,” she tells The New York Sun, “to know he still lives rent-free in Hasan’s head.”Mr. Piker, Mrs. Limbaugh said, “wishes he could come close to Rush’s stratosphere. Not only was Rush one of the most brilliant voices of all time, a far cry from a ‘shock jock,’ he pioneered political talk and long-form discussion. Rush masterfully stood up for our incredible country on a daily basis, three hours a day” for 32 years, reaching over 600 stations.Podcaster Hasan Piker on March 15, 2026 at Los Angeles. Taylor Hill/FilmMagicOf that great volume of words, there were few that Limbaugh regretted. But when he fell short, he offered sincere apologies — including to Senator Hillary Clinton over an image on his TV show. As Limbaugh himself put it in response to critics who accused him of overheated rhetoric: “I don’t consider myself an offensive guy. I am just a harmless lovable little fuzzball.”Mr. Hasan rarely admits that he’s wrong or tries to persuade, as Limbaugh did. Offending, as the Zoomers say, “is a feature, not a bug.” The Financial Times described Mr. Piker as “the Republican Party’s bogeyman,” implying that statements such as “America deserved 9/11” and “it doesn’t matter if rape happened on October 7th” ought to be overlooked. Mr. Piker has said “I used imprecise language” about 9/11 and claims to have “immediately apologized for using the word ‘deserved’ when talking about the concept of blowback.” He also said that “no one deserves to be a victim to a terror attack.”The FT’s story ignored that plenty of Democrats object to Mr. Piker, too. As I wrote in the Sun this month, Senator John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, challenged his party’s Senate nominee in Michigan, Dr. Abdulrahman “Abdul” El-Sayed, for campaigning with Mr. Piker. In October 2024, Congressman Ritchie Torres, New York Democrat, dubbed Mr. Piker “the poster child for the post-October 7th outbreak of antisemitism.”Asked last week on the Axis Podcast if America is worse than Al-Qaeda, Mr. Piker said, “pound for pound, as far as the number of deaths, yes.” He called America “the top dog in terrorism,” equating accidental casualties to the deliberate slaughter of innocents. “I would vote,” he told “Pod Save America” in April, “for Hamas over Israel every single time.”Rush Limbaugh on May 14, 2012 at the Missouri Capitol. AP/Julie Smith, fileLimbaugh adorned his studio with an American flag flown on an Air Force tanker mission, a Winston Churchill bust, and a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey. Mr. Piker adorns his with a newspaper featuring the Twin Towers in flames and Communist China’s banner. Yet if there’s one thing I learned from my 30 years with the five-time Marconi Award winner, it’s optimism.When Limbaugh returned his “talent on loan from God,” he was 70, twice Mr. Hasan’s 35 years. There’s hope for the New Jersey-born streamer to gain the insights that come with age. Evolving, though, requires a willingness to listen, not to just talk from a bubble. Limbaugh welcomed callers who disagreed and mandated that screeners put them at the top of the line.Mr. Piker could learn from Limbaugh’s 1993 tour of Israel as well as the post-9/11 shows where he prioritized free speech and rejected trading liberty for security. In February 2022, a year after his death, I wrote in the Jerusalem Post that he rejected antisemites and “helped his audience gain appreciation for the ‘tiny, tiny Israel’ … America’s ‘lone ally’ in the region.”Having opened the door, Mr. Piker ought to be encouraged to emulate the real Limbaugh. “Rush’s wisdom lives on through millions of Americans who love our country equally,” Mrs. Limbaugh said. Those listeners would be happy to educate Mr. Piker until they can say — as Limbaugh always did to those he persuaded — “No apology needed for your past. Welcome home.”

Hasan Piker, Depicting Himself as the Zoomer Rush Limbaugh, Twists the Legacy of Talk Radio Titan

Hasan Piker, Depicting Himself as the Zoomer Rush Limbaugh, Twists the Legacy of Talk Radio Titan

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