Politics
Hasan Piker says UK has barred him, trashes ‘unbelievable…power’ of pro-Israel groups
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
It hasn’t been a great last few days for Marxist political influencer Hasan Piker.
First, as Fox News Digital reported exclusively last week, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sent Piker an administrative subpoena seeking financial, logistical and communications records related to his March trip to Cuba as part of an investigation into whether he violated U.S. sanctions laws against doing business with the communist regime running the island nation.
Then last night, during protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, N.J., hecklers confronted Piker, calling him a “f—ing fraud, ” “fake-a– grifter” and “dog abuser,” telling him, “Go back to the desktop.” (Piker has denied allegations he trained his dog, Kaya, with a shock collar.)
Now, Piker told his loyal following on the gaming platform Twitch that British authorities denied his Electronic Travel Authorization, or ETA, preventing him from traveling to the United Kingdom for a series of scheduled appearances, including events at SXSW London and the Oxford Union. Approved U.S. travelers to the UK can enter the country with a simple Electronic Travel Authorization, which is easier to get then a formal visa.
“I’ve been banned from the UK,” Piker told viewers. “I’ve been to the UK on numerous occasions, and all of the things they’re complaining about now are things I’ve said before.”
He went on to say, “It’s f—ing ridiculous.”
HASAN PIKER DEFENDS PRO-COMMUNIST, ANTI-ICE SINGHAM NETWORK ACTIVISTS AS ‘WONDERFUL PEOPLE’
Hasan Piker speaks with an interviewer during a protest in New Jersey. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
Although Fox News Digital could not confirm Piker’s claim, such a move by the UK would be significant because it would mark a potential red line that a Western government has drawn regarding the importation of extremist ideas and ideological movements that officials believe may contribute to social unrest, extremism or political violence.
At the tail end of a long livestream, Piker said he was denied entry for alleged antisemitism, which he denied, and then proceeded to lash out at Jewish organizations that he said had campaigned against his visit, claiming they wielded excessive influence over British policy.
“Israel advocacy organizations have unbelievable amounts of power over what even the United Kingdom has to say and do,” Piker said. “If you’re an avowed anti-Zionist, your travel will be restricted.”
Piker accused the UK government of bowing to pressure from pro-Israel advocacy groups and described the decision as evidence of a growing crackdown on political dissent across Western democracies.
The comments came weeks after several British Jewish organizations publicly urged the government to block Piker’s entry into the country, citing remarks they described as antisemitic and supportive of extremist groups. Piker has said he believed the U.S. deserved the 9/11 attack as “backlash” for its foreign policy decisions. The Jewish Leadership Council and Community Security Trust argued that Piker’s presence in Britain would not be “conducive to the public good,” pointing to his comments about Hamas, Hezbollah, Zionism and Orthodox Jews.
Labour MP David Taylor also called on the Home Office to revoke Piker’s visa ahead of scheduled appearances at SXSW London, arguing that his rhetoric had contributed to concerns within Britain’s Jewish community.
Punctuating his commentary about the UK decision with deep sighs, cursing and rage at suggestions from his followers, Piker repeatedly rejected accusations of antisemitism, saying criticism of Israel was being conflated with hatred of Jews. He said the decision reflected a broader trend in which governments are suppressing anti-Israel voices.
“This is straight-up fascism,” Piker said. “Being critical of Israel while combating antisemitism is not a good enough reason to bar someone entry into the country.”
HOW A RHODES SCHOLAR WITH TIES TO CUBA’S PRESIDENT ORGANIZED THE CONVOY THAT BROUGHT HASAN PIKER TO HAVANA
(left) Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel raises his fist next to Progressive International’s general coordinator David Adler during an event at the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples in Havana on March 21, 2026. (right) Hasan Piker joins a convoy to Cuba in March 2026. (Ernesto Mastrascusa/AFP and CodePink via Storyful)
The streamer said he had planned a week-long trip that included appearances alongside former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, a live podcast recording and an event at Oxford Union.
Varoufakis is the co-founder of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit group, Progressive International, which Piker credits with getting him to Cuba for a March aid convoy that may have violated U.S. laws. A Fox News Digital investigation chronicled how Progressive International and its co-founder David Adler have allegedly been a critical part of a foreign influence operation by the Communist Party of Cuba. Progressive International and Adler didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.K. government didn’t respond to a request for comment. However, in recent weeks, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, a critic of Israeli policies, recently revoked the travel authorization of Piker’s uncle, Cenk Uygur, founder of “The Young Turks,” after concluding his presence would not be “conducive to the public good.”
During the livestream, Piker warned that the alleged UK decision could set a precedent for other Western countries, including Australia and Canada, potentially restricting his future travel.
HASAN PIKER NAMES PRO-CCP TYCOON SINGHAM AS FINANCIER OF ‘POLITICAL MOVEMENTS’ DESPITE NONPROFIT VENEER
Hasan Piker and Jodie Evans and Neville Roy Singham (Getty Images)
“I genuinely did not think this would happen,” he said. “We’re moving into a very different timeline.”
Piker said he and his team were exploring whether he could apply for a standard visa despite the denial of the Electronic Travel Authorization, though he acknowledged it was a long shot.
Piker’s case intersects with a broader inquiry into the influence of transnational activist networks operating in the United States. During a livestream this week, Piker said that the Treasury Department’s investigation into his Cuba trip may ultimately be focused on Neville Roy Singham, an American Marxist businessman living in Shanghai who has funded a network of nonprofit organizations and activist groups that have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and administration officials.
Among the organizations funded by Singham is CodePink, which also received a Treasury Department administrative subpoena related to its participation in the March convoy to Cuba, as well as groups such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition. All three organizations openly identify with socialist or communist political traditions and have been prominent organizers of anti-Israel demonstrations across the United States since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas against Israel.
Critics argue that some of those demonstrations have created hostile environments for Jews in the UK, U.S., and elsewhere, including the use of slogans such as “From the river to the sea,” which calls for the elimination of Israel.
Trump administration officials are investigating the groups tied to Singham as a transnational network advancing anti-American, pro-Chinese Communist Party and anti-Western narratives while exploiting political and social divisions inside the U.S.
Lawmakers, Treasury officials and national security analysts have increasingly examined whether such networks are helping to amplify polarization, social discord, and hostility toward democratic institutions. Meanwhile, last night at the ICE protest, Piker defended the groups as led by “wonderful” people.
The debate has been particularly acute in Europe, where governments have grappled with alliances between far-left activists and Islamist organizations that have joined forces around anti-Israel activism and antisemitism. Critics argue that some of these coalitions have fomented rhetoric and violence hostile to Jews, leading to rising antisemitism in the UK, much like in the U.S.
For his part, Piker ended his podcast defiant, angry and seemingly deflated for the moment, repeating again, “Bro, they banned me from the UK,” and then finally closing the podcast, saying, “I’m done for the day.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Politics
Pope Leo sends unmistakable message on immigrants during visit honoring America’s first saint
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Pope Leo XIV used a visit Saturday honoring St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint and patron saint of immigrants, to deliver his latest appeal on behalf of them, asking Catholics to look to her example at a time when migration remains one of the defining issues of his emerging papacy.
The remarks came as Leo continues to make migration a central focus of his public ministry, a position that has sparked months of public friction with President Donald Trump over immigration and foreign policy.
“What could be more relevant today than a missionary charism dedicated to serving migrants?” Leo said during an evening prayer service in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, the northern Italian town where Cabrini was born.
The American-born pope prayed at Cabrini’s tomb and urged young Catholics to learn from the saint’s life of serving immigrants, many of whom had left their homelands in search of better opportunities.
POPE LEO XIV STRONGLY SUPPORTS US BISHOPS’ CONDEMNATION OF TRUMP IMMIGRATION RAIDS: ‘EXTREMELY DISRESPECTFUL’
Pope Leo XIV presides over a celebration at the parish of Santi Antonio Abate e Francesca Cabrini in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Italy, Saturday. The visit was part of his pastoral journey to nearby Pavia and marked the birthplace of Francesca Cabrini, the first U.S. saint and Patroness of Migrants. (Mario Tomassetti/Vatican Media)
But Leo also invoked his predecessor, Pope Francis, whose own papacy was defined in part by calls to welcome migrants.
“Let us ask ourselves: if Mother Francesca were alive today, what would her missionary spirit tell her?” Leo said. “And what would a pope like Francis — who, as the son of Italian immigrants, made service to migrants one of the key priorities of his pontificate — ask of her?”
The comments are the latest in a series of migration-focused appearances that have helped define Leo’s first year as pope.
POPE LEO APPOINTS PRO-IMMIGRATION BISHOP TO DIOCESE HOME TO TRUMP’S MAR-A-LAGO
Pope Leo XIV greets faithful as he leaves the parish of Santi Antonio Abate e Francesca Cabrini in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Italy, Saturday. (Mario Tomassetti/Vatican Media)
Last week, Leo traveled to Spain’s Canary Islands, a major destination for migrants departing West Africa, where he met migrants and called for greater efforts to welcome and integrate people fleeing hardship and conflict.
During that trip, Leo urged world leaders to create “legal and safe pathways” for migration and warned against reducing migrants to statistics.
Leo’s migration advocacy has frequently drawn criticism from Trump, who has accused the pontiff of venturing into politics and sharply disagreed with some of his comments on immigration and foreign affairs.
The public disagreements have become one of the most closely watched relationships between the Vatican and Washington during Leo’s papacy.
INCLUSIVE TONE OF NEW POPE ISN’T SITTING WELL WITH SOME IN THE ‘AMERICA FIRST’ MOVEMENT
Pope Leo XIV presides over a celebration at the parish of Santi Antonio Abate e Francesca Cabrini in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Italy, Saturday, during his pastoral journey to nearby Pavia. (Mario Tomassetti/Vatican Media)
Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to meet with Vatican officials and Italian leaders during a period of heightened tensions between the Holy See and the Trump administration.
Leo has rejected suggestions that his remarks are political attacks, arguing instead that his appeals stem from Catholic teaching on human dignity, peace and care for vulnerable people.
Saturday’s visit centered on Cabrini, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen and spent decades serving Italian immigrants through schools, hospitals and orphanages before her death in Chicago in 1917.
US CATHOLIC BISHOPS PRESIDENT SAYS DEPORTATIONS INSTILLING ‘FEAR’ IN ‘WIDESPREAD MANNER’: ‘CONCERNS US ALL’
Pope Leo XIV holds a private audience with Vice President J.D. Vance at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City, May 19, 2025. (Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media)
The Vatican has also announced that Leo will travel to the Italian island of Lampedusa on July 4, a date likely to draw attention in the United States given the pope’s American roots.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Lampedusa has become one of Europe’s most recognizable migration flashpoints because of the thousands of migrants who attempt dangerous crossings from North Africa each year. The island also carries symbolic importance within the Catholic Church because it was the destination of Pope Francis’ first trip outside Rome after becoming pope in 2013.
Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack and Robert McGreevy, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
For UFC boss Dana White, heavyweight Josh Hokit’s post-fight behavior at UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday crossed a line.
On Monday, the mixed martial arts promotion’s president and chief executive told Time reporter Sean Gregory via text he is “completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families” in reference to Hokit’s tasteless comment about Michelle Obama. During the White House spectacle in front of President Trump and others, Hokit was interviewed after his technical-knockout victory over Derrick Lewis and propped up a false conspiracy about the former first lady, declaring “Michelle Obama is a man.”
Hokit, who has a history of making tasteless comments after his fights, including the same Obama jab, drew mixed reaction from the UFC Freedom 250 crowd — and also from social media users, with some repeating the false claim in the comments on Hokit’s Instagram page and others chiding it. White, who has panned Hokit’s remarks in the past, did so again.
“Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense,” White’s text added.
Hokit insulted Obama months after Trump faced backlash in February for a racist social media video that depicted President Obama and the former first lady as apes. Amid mounting public criticism, the White House took down the video and blamed an unnamed aide.
Michelle Obama, clearly on Hokit’s mind on Sunday, was busy with other matters over the weekend: preparing with her husband to open their Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. The museum and library hosts its grand opening Thursday and will be open to the public Friday.
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
Politics
Trump says Iran missiles ‘aren’t the problem’ after White House made them central to war rationale
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
For months, senior Trump administration officials argued that Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal helped shield Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and was a key reason the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury attacks on the country.
Now, President Donald Trump is suggesting Iran having missiles may not be a problem at all.
“If other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some. If Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say that in relative proportion, I think it’s okay,” Trump said at the G7 international forum Wednesday. “Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but (Iran) can’t have them? It doesn’t work that way.”
“Missiles aren’t the problem. They hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet.”
“The Gulf nations will address the nonnuclear issues, as we’ll be talking about the ballistic missiles,” the president added. “And we’ll talk, also, about the terrorist proxies that they have that — we don’t want that to happen.”
A map displays the range of ballistic missiles fired from Iran, highlighting areas within reach. (Fox News)
ISRAELI OFFICIALS REPORTEDLY WARN IRAN’S BALLISTIC MISSILES COULD TRIGGER SOLO MILITARY ACTION AGAINST TEHRAN
Trump made the remarks while discussing whether Iran should be permitted to retain missile capabilities in a news conference at the G7 in Évian-les-Bains, France, just as details of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran were being released.
The comments strike a much different tone than arguments repeatedly made by senior administration officials in recent months, who described Iran’s ballistic missile force as both a major threat to regional security and a protective shield for Iran’s nuclear program.
“Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and we will not allow Iran to hide behind the immunity of a massive short-term ballistic missile inventory, or the ability to make them or launch them,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in a press conference March 3. “What they are trying to do, and have been trying to do for a very long time, is build a conventional weapons capability as a shield to hide behind.”
TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN ‘VERY HARD’ AFTER OBLITERATING NEARLY ’90 PERCENT’ OF REGIME MISSILES
Other senior officials repeatedly described degrading Iran’s missile capabilities as a central objective of Operation Epic Fury.
In remarks at the White House on March 2, days after the start of the operation, Trump said, “Our objectives are clear. First, we’re destroying Iran’s missile capabilities … and their capacity to produce brand new ones.”
War Secretary Pete Hegseth later said March 4 the mission was “laser-focused” on obliterating Iran’s missiles and the facilities that produce them, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the same day one of the administration’s primary goals was to “destroy the regime’s deadly ballistic missiles and completely raze their missile industry to the ground.”
Heavy weapons, including ballistic missiles, air defense systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, are displayed during the 44th anniversary of the eight-year war with Iraq, known as Holy Defense Week, at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 25, 2024. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Rubio repeatedly returned to the theme throughout the operation, arguing that degrading Iran’s missile force was necessary to prevent Iran from using conventional military power as cover for a future nuclear weapons program.
TRUMP SAYS US, ISRAEL SHATTERED IRANIAN MILITARY CAPABILITIES, PRESSES LEADERS TO SURRENDER: ‘CRY UNCLE’
“This is about very specific objectives,” Rubio told reporters on March 30. “The President laid them out on the first night of the operation… Here they are — you should write them down. Number one, the destruction of their air force. Number two, the destruction of their navy. Number three, the severe diminishing of their missile launching capability. And number four, the destruction of their factories so they can’t make more missiles and more drones to threaten us in the future. All of this so that they can never hide behind it to acquire a nuclear weapon. That was our objective from the beginning; that remains our objective now.”
Leavitt made similar comments the same day, saying the objectives of Operation Epic Fury included “destroying their ballistic missiles” and dismantling the infrastructure used to produce them while ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.
Trump’s remarks at the G7 also raised questions about the administration’s approach to Iran’s nuclear program, another issue that administration officials had previously described in far less flexible terms.
Trump’s comments also come as the administration pursues a memorandum of understanding with Iran that leaves unresolved one of the central disputes in the nuclear negotiations: the future of Tehran’s enrichment program.
Under the framework agreement unveiled this week, the United States and Iran agreed to spend 60 days negotiating the fate of Iran’s nearly 900-pound stockpile of near-weapons-grade 60% enriched uranium and any future enrichment activities. Administration officials said the minimum outcome under discussion would involve down-blending the material under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision, while acknowledging that key details of a final agreement remain unsettled.
Officials described Iran’s willingness to dilute its stockpile as a significant concession, but also acknowledged that the memorandum does not resolve whether Iran will ultimately be permitted to retain any enrichment capability.
TRUMP REAFFIRMS HARD LINE ON IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL: ‘WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM’
President Donald Trump arrives for a gala dinner at the Versailles Palace in Versailles, France. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump appeared to strike a more accommodating tone when discussing Iran’s access to nuclear power at the G7.
“It is a little hard, though, when you say that somebody wants it, other people have it, other, adjoining states have it. And you’re not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that,” Trump said. “It’s always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The administration had previously drawn a much harder line on Iran’s nuclear program. Special envoy Steve Witkoff said the United States could not allow Iran to retain “even 1 percent” enrichment capability, while White House officials repeatedly described the end of Iranian enrichment as a red line.
The White House referred back to Trump’s recent remarks on missiles when asked for additional comment. “
“We are going to let the President’s comments stand,” a State Department spokesperson said when asked for comment.
The Pentagon could not immediately be reached for comment.
-
Indiana42 seconds agoIndiana Republicans nominate Max Engling for secretary of state at GOP Convention in Fort Wayne
-
Iowa4 minutes agoWhy Iowa State Basketball Will Miss Star Potential of Milan Momcilovic
-
Kansas9 minutes agoSalvador Perez attended the Ecaudor-Curaçao match at Arrowhead. So did other royals — from the Netherlands
-
Kentucky16 minutes agoKentucky Colonels executive to speak at Florence Rotary Club on Monday, public welcome to register
-
Louisiana19 minutes ago
Louisiana Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for June 20, 2026
-
Maine24 minutes agoYou drew a Maine moose permit. Here’s what to do right now.
-
Maryland31 minutes agoMaryland Gov. Moore champions the spirit of Juneteenth and togetherness at AFRAM 50
-
Michigan34 minutes agoInsider: Shaky polls cause uproar in Michigan Senate, governor races
