Quick Answer: It's a political attack ad. Cuomo is using a decontextualized comment from 2019 to smear his opponent by association. Let's break down what actually happened and why context matters.
No one deserved 9/11. But to understand why someone would make such a comment in frustration, we need to examine the decades of U.S. foreign policy that created the conditions for the attack.
The comment came while Hasan was reacting to Rep. Dan Crenshaw on Joe Rogan's podcast, where Crenshaw reduced the 9/11 attacks to simple "Islamic fundamentalism" and "emotional reasoning."
Understanding requires examining U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East:
This is "blowback" — a CIA term for the unintended consequences and retaliation a country faces for its covert or foreign operations. In other words, America fucked around and innocent civilians paid the price.
If we had a foreign policy driven by peace and mutual respect, this attack would never have happened.
To understand why the U.S. pursued these policies, we need to examine the material conditions:
Following World War II, the United States recognized that controlling access to the world's largest known oil reserves in the Middle East was essential for its economic prosperity and global dominance.
A 1945 State Department memo described Saudi Arabian oil as "a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history."
Ensuring stable, friendly governments and preventing rival powers from gaining influence became a cornerstone of U.S. strategy.
Nearly every U.S. intervention in the Middle East from the 1950s through the 1980s was viewed through the lens of the Cold War, creating a "with us or against us" mentality.
The U.S. frequently supported authoritarian monarchs and dictators (like the Shah of Iran or the Saudi royal family) not because they were democratic, but because they were anti-communist and willing to guarantee U.S. access to oil.
In his 1961 farewell address, President Eisenhower warned of the "unwarranted influence" of the "military-industrial complex."
This refers to the self-reinforcing cycle of financial and political interests between the Department of Defense, weapons manufacturers, and their supporters in Congress.
A permanent state of military engagement creates immense profits and political power, with a vested interest in forward-deployed military posture in the Middle East.
After the 1973 oil crisis, the U.S. struck a deal with Saudi Arabia ensuring that oil would be sold exclusively in U.S. dollars. In return, the U.S. offered military protection and arms.
This "petrodollar" system created massive global demand for U.S. dollars, allowing the government to borrow at lower interest rates and run large deficits.
Maintaining this system requires maintaining U.S. influence over key oil-producing states in the region.
The "Google Hasan Piker 9/11" ad is not an invitation to learn about history.
It's a political weapon designed to smear an opponent by association, distract from local issues, and win votes through emotional outrage rather than substantive debate.
Cuomo's strategy is to make nuanced critique of imperialism politically toxic, avoiding having to defend the status quo or his own record.
In short, Cuomo is practicing politics-as-usual.
Let Cuomo win and you'll get the same failed policies holding you and your family back. The rich will get richer and it will keep getting harder to keep up with rising rents, more expensive groceries, and crumbling public transit.
We aim to organize our fellow workers by helping create tenant unions, unionize our workplaces, build mutual aid networks to help our neighbors in need, and much more. We aim to create a society where the workers, not the billionaires, control how society is run.
The best way to get involved is to join a left-wing org in your area!
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest org with hundreds of chapters nationwide. It's a "big tent" leftist organization, making it a great place to learn about all types of leftist politics and find like-minded people to organize with.
Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is another growing organization. They ran a Presidential slate that gained nearly 100k votes in 2024 and are definitely a group to watch.
You should avoid working with the Democrats because the Democratic Party actively works against left-wing and progressive candidates.
The idea that the Democratic Party is a monolith of the "left" is misleading. In practice, the party establishment has repeatedly acted to undermine, sideline, and actively work against progressive and leftist candidates within its own ranks.