July 22, 2026 – Communist streamer Hasan Piker calls Mao “one of the greatest leaders” – Survivor of Mao responds

𝐗𝐈 𝐕𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐎’𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄—𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐇𝐈𝐌 ‘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒’

Streamer Hasan Piker sparked backlash this month after a resurfaced clip showed him praising Mao Zedong — “𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵” — days before he addressed the College Democrats of America convention on July 18 wearing a Mao-style suit (Fox News).

Xi Van Fleet, who survived Mao’s rule as a child in China, was asked what she thought when she heard the clip. Her answer didn’t need editing.

“𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘰.” she said, then told her own story: born in 1959, the year the Great Famine began — historians estimate it k!lled up to 𝟓𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 — and seven years old when the Cultural Revolution shut down her school for two years.

“𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦.”

She added a detail Piker apparently missed entirely: Mao’s purges didn’t spare his own party. Even 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐗𝐢 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝, and Xi Jinping’s own half-sister d∗ed by suicide under the persecution that followed.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭.

𝐗𝐈 𝐕𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐎’𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄—𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐇𝐈𝐌 ‘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒’

Streamer Hasan Piker sparked backlash this month after a resurfaced clip showed him praising Mao Zedong — “𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦… pic.twitter.com/o2Eaz1Xjtw

— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) July 23, 2026

Hasan Piker addresses the College Democrats of America convention on July 18, 2026 wearing a Mao-style suit (Credit: video clipping)

Xi Van Fleet, a survivor of communism, calls out NYC DSA Co-Chair:

“When you put whatever adjectives in front of communism, in front of socialism, it doesn’t change its nature. It is still communism, it is still socialism…please read some history, learn history.” pic.twitter.com/cyrIYmWCin

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 22, 2026

In Mao’s China, politeness was condemned as bourgeois, while proletarian rudeness was celebrated as politically correct.

If you know history, you’ll recognize it when it repeats itself. https://t.co/60VsFP5DVY

— Xi Van Fleet (@XVanFleet) July 21, 2026

In 2022, I made a life-changing decision. I walked away from my job to do something I never imagined — write a book.

That book became Mao’s America: A Survivor’s Warning http://a.co/d/01jk7Q1i — about two Cultural Revolutions: one I survived in China 50 years ago, and one is unfolding in the United States.

But a bigger question remained: How did Communist China become America’s most powerful adversary?

That led me to write Made in America: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Enabled Communist China and Created Our Greatest Threat. http://a.co/d/0aCpDOfa

This isn’t just history.
It’s the missing story of how we got here.

In 2022, I made a life-changing decision. I walked away from my job to do something I never imagined — write a book.

That book became Mao’s America: A Survivor’s Warning https://t.co/uKVo6kKiL4 — about two Cultural Revolutions: one I survived in China 50 years ago, and one is… pic.twitter.com/yZnVHzF3aN

— Xi Van Fleet (@XVanFleet) February 13, 2026