Up North Progressive

On April 1, 2026, a man named Jonathan Cowan sent a letter to US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. The letter, bearing Third Way letterhead, threatened El-Sayed not to attend rallies on Michigan university campuses alongside a Twitch streamer named Hasan Piker. The letter demanded that Abdul El-Sayed answer a list of loaded questions concerning things Hasan Piker said. It also contained a not-at-all-subtle threat toward his campaign.

If this is the first you’ve heard of Hasan Piker, he’s a popular content creator who streams on Twitch. His audience is mostly Millennials and Gen Z. Piker uses his platform to discuss social and political issues that matter to them. He’s crude, he cusses, and shovels food into his mouth while streaming live.

Hasan Piker isn’t running for office, so why is Third Way so mad about Hasan Piker and Abdul El-Sayed holding rallies at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan? Is it possible that Piker’s popularity with the age groups who make up the bulk of his audience will support Abdul El-Sayed? Another possible reason for Third Way’s animosity toward El-Sayed is his campaign platform and previous work.

He rebuilt Detroit’s Health Department after bankruptcy. Then he restructured Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services, serving 1.8 million Michiganders in the state’s largest and most diverse county. As a public servant, Abdul secured free glasses for kids who needed them, removed lead from Detroit’s elementary schools, took on Michigan’s biggest polluters, and made life-saving Narcan universally accessible. He also spearheaded a program that will cancel up to $700 million in medical debt for 300,000 Michiganders over 2 years.

Abdul El-Sayed wants universal health care adopted at the federal level, and intends to use his office to achieve that. Third Way doesn’t want people like Abdul El-Sayed to accomplish universal health care in any way. The reason why comes from Third Way’s backers.

Third Way calls itself a left-of-center think tank that supports Democratic Party candidates and values. They insist that everyone under the big tent of the Democratic Party needs to get on board and vote blue no matter who, which means for Third Way, voting for the candidates they support: the candidates labeled establishment, pro-corporate, and pro-Israel. The president of Third Way is Jonathan Cowan.

Who financially backs Third Way? The Nation published an informative article in 2013 about Third Way and its financial donors. It’s a list of corporations, organizations, investment bankers, health insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and communications companies quietly providing the funds to make sure the Democratic Party is Republican-light.  

The list of donors makes it easier to understand why this Democratic think tank writes articles and white papers on cutting social security, stopping universal health care, and making sure the federal government continues to fund Israeli genocide in the Middle East.

Democratic Party voters are told by Republicans in sheep’s clothing that they need to stop demanding their elected officials focus on the issues that are important to them, and instead continue to vote for the people who keep the investment bankers, the insurance companies, the drug companies, and the communications companies happy and solvent. For Third Way, the Democratic Party candidate winning elections isn’t even that important. In a recent article written by Lauren Egan for The Bulwark, Jonathan Cowan comes right out and states just that:

“If people really are arguing that the price of winning is becoming like a bigoted misogynist like Hasan Piker, then I’ll take not winning,”

What does Hasan Piker say about his goals for the 2026 midterm election? “I want Republicans to lose.”

Always remember to follow the money.