Americans overwhelmingly reject hardline anti-Israel pundits Hasan Piker and Candace Owens and believe neither major political party should collaborate with them, according to a new poll by Harvard-Harris.

Asked whether Democrats should “embrace or reject people like Hasan Piker who have said things like America deserved 9/11,” a striking 72% of Democrats said he should be rejected, compared with just 28% who supported embracing him. Republicans were even more opposed, with 79% rejecting him, as did 80% of independents. Overall, 77% of respondents opted to reject him, and 23% wanted to embrace him.

Owens received similarly decisive opposition. Asked whether Republicans should embrace or reject “people like Candace Owens who have said things like the Jews are behind everything,” 73% of Republicans said she should be rejected. Democrats and independents were even more emphatic, with 76% in each group also saying she should be rejected. Overall, 75% of respondents opted to reject her, and 25% wanted to embrace her.

Though the stalwart progressive Piker and far-right Owens have little in common politically, the two commentators have made their opposition to Israel a central feature of their public persona, oftentimes launching lengthy tirades against the Jewish state and spreading conspiracy theories against the nation.

The results offer a striking indication that the most prominent anti-Israel personalities on both ends of the US political spectrum do not necessarily represent mainstream American opinion.

Piker wields substantial influence over young members of the American left, with his online streams often going viral and serving as launching pads for political discussion. He is credited with helping to ideologically mold scores of young Democrats. Despite his divisive persona and controversies, Piker has seen his profile ascend in recent years, scoring a variety of favorable profiles in newspapers and magazines.

Piker has accused Israel of committing “genocide” against the Palestinians on the regular basis. He has also called Orthodox Jews “inbred” and compared Israel to Nazi Germany. He has further stated that anyone who maintains any semblance of a positive opinion of Israel should be marginalized from polite society and showered praise on terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, touting them as “resistance” forces against Israel.

Last month, Piker drew outrage after he stated that Jewish institutions that express support for Israel cause antisemitism in the United States and suggested that their continued backing of the Jewish state would result in someone” going to come around and take action, not against the State of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”

Owens, a popular podcaster and conspiracy theorist, was fired by the Daily Wire in 2024. Although neither Owens nor the Daily Wire have given an official reason for her departure from the outlet, it is widely believed that her flirtation with antisemitic conspiracies served as the motive for her ouster.

Like Piker, Owens maintains a substantial audience, and some outlets have referred to her as the most popular podcaster in the world. Since launching her solo podcast, Owens has used her sizable platform to launch vicious and unsubstantiated conspiracies against Israel and Jews globally.

On X/Twitter, Owens accused Israel of committing a “genocide” against Palestinians as revenge for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. She has also compared Jews with “Marxists” and said they want to “rewrite history.”

The conservative firebrand has also slandered Judaism as a “pedophile-centric religion that believes in demons … [and] child sacrifice” and suggested that people refrain from criticizing Israel out of fear of their own safety, saying, “Do you think it’s normal … that basically, every person who speaks about Israel has to basically say a statement that … ‘you know, I don’t want to get killed?’”

However, despite their massive online presence, neither figure receives anything approaching majority support from either the Republican or Democratic Party.

For Israel and its American supporters, the findings provide an important counterpoint to the highly visible anti-Israel activism that dominates portions of social media and political discourse. Online prominence does not necessarily translate into broad public legitimacy.

Beyond Piker and Owens, the poll also shows that Americans still favor Israel over the Hamas terrorist group despite the Jewish state’s declining support in the US.

In sum, 70% of American voters indicated support for Israel over Hamas in the ongoing Gaza war. However, the poll found a striking difference with younger voters, with 54% of those between 18 to 24 stating that they support Hamas.

Some observers have speculated that the fragmented media landscape, in which young people increasingly receive news from algorithmically manipulative social media sites such as TikTok and Instagram, have influenced younger generations with a distorted view of Israel.

The poll also found that 74% of Americans believe Israel has a right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people. Support is again considerably weaker among the youngest voters, with roughly half of 18-to-24-year-olds agreeing and half disagreeing.

Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah ranked as the three least favorably viewed countries or groups among 36 included in the survey. Israel itself received a much more divided assessment, with 38% favorable and 37% unfavorable. Despite the deluge of anti-Israel rhetoric popular online, the survey indicates that Americans have not totally turned against the Jewish state. However, Israel is perceived much less favorably than in previous years, especially among younger Americans.

The findings also show significant American support for attempting to rein in Iran, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorist groups. A striking 72% of respondents indicated the United States should leverage force, sanctions and blockades if Iran refuses to release control of the Strait of Hormuz, while only 28 percent favor allowing Iran to control the strategic waterway.

The Harvard Harris survey of 2,100 registered voters, conducted late last month, has a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points.

Corey Walker, The Algemeiner