It was a pool party that took place in Detroit where El-Sayed chatted amiably with the progressive influencer Hasan Piker as other “content creators” took selfies and lounged on floaties. El-Sayed ribbed Piker for his recent trend of wearing suits in contrast to the candidate’s usual tight-fitting black T-shirt. And then the two discussed the media’s “full-on freakout” over Piker’s role campaigning for El-Sayed during the final stretch of his primary battle with Rep. Haley Stevens. This populist turn began a decade ago when Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, surprised voters in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary and nearly defeated Hillary Clinton, the heavy favorite. That message has roused voters in deep-blue urban districts, but Piker’s brand of anti-patriotism was assumed to alienate normie voters.