Deranged podcaster boasts about displaying newspaper showing Twin Towers exploding during 9/11 attack

Extremist Hasan Piker pointing to a framed New York Times front page from Sept. 12, 2001.

Hasan Piker, the increasingly extremist and unhinged podcaster who has repeatedly said the U.S. deserved the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, is leaning into that extreme rhetoric and displaying a framed newspaper front page showing the South Tower of the World Trade Center erupting in flames seconds after being struck by a jetliner hijacked by Islamic terrorists on that dark day.

Piker boasted about the new addition to the wall seen in the background of his podcast set during an episode released this week. Pointing to the framed newspaper, Piker said, "I finally framed the cutie Cinderella newspaper from 9/11, the morning of 9/12 ... the newspaper that covered 9/11. It's now officially sitting behind me." 

The newspaper front page Piker now has framed on the wall behind him is the cover of The New York Times on Wednesday, September 12, 2001. The broadsheet's headline reads, "U.S. ATTACKED" and the sub-headline adds, "HIJACKED JETS DESTROY TWIN TOWERS AND HIT PENTAGON IN DAY OF TERROR."

The front page's dominant image is a vertical photo of the Twin Towers, showing the North Tower, which was hit first, billowing black smoke, alongside the South Tower, just a second or two after it was hit by a passenger plane, engulfed in an enormous fireball. 

The cover of The New York Times on Sept. 12, 2001.

Smaller images beneath it show a group of firefighters standing at Ground Zero in the hours after the towers collapsed, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on fire after it was struck by a hijacked plane, and a woman seated on a curb covered in blood and ash after apparently making it out of the terror attack alive.

Piker's brand seems to be based on making the most objectionable and sensational statements possible about the U.S., and trying to outdo each often idiotic remark by stooping to an unimaginable new low for the next one.

Dave Rubin reacted to the new addition in Piker's podcast studio with a post on X. "I can’t even begin to explain how evil it is that Scumbag Hasan Piker has the September 12, 2001, New York Times framed on his set," Dave said. He also included an unfolded copy of the The New York Times from that day in his post, saying, "Below is my copy of the paper from that day, which I’ve kept for 25 years. I keep it to honor America, he hangs it to desecrate her."

Not only has Piker said America deserved the 9/11 attacks, he's espoused communist policies, expressed support for Luigi Mangione, the 28-year-old awaiting trial for the assassination of a healthcare CEO in late 2024, has called for abolishing ICE, and expressed support for people who shoplift from major corporations, among other incendiary remarks. Earlier this year, Piker even hosted a man who volunteered for al-Qaeda in the 1990s on his podcast to help boost his campaign for a seat in U.S. Congress.  

Piker's latest provocation comes less than two months before the nation will pause to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which killed 2,977 people -- 2,606 were killed at the World Trade Center, 125 were killed in Arlington, and another 40 passengers and crew died when they brought down the hijacked United Flight 93 in western Pennsylvania as terrorists were aiming it for another target on the East Coast. Thousands more, including many first responders, have died in the ensuing months and years after 9/11 from injuries and illness related to the events of that day. Others still suffer from injuries and illness brought on by the events of 9/11 and the immediate aftermath.

Below, watch Piker brazenly boast about including the newspaper front page in his background, making a mockery of one of the most solemn days in American history.