WASHINGTON — Democrats trying to court young male voters are once again confronting an inconvenient fact about left-wing streamer Hasan Piker:

He has a microphone.

And unfortunately for campaign consultants, he has been using it for years.

Piker has built a huge audience, particularly among younger progressives, and Democrats have had clear incentives to reach that audience. But his past remarks — including the infamous 2019 line that “America deserved 9/11,” which he later said was not meant literally — have repeatedly become political liabilities for people associated with him.

The Canton Cat reviewed the situation.

“So you found a guy who talks for six hours a day, attached your candidates to him, and then acted surprised when somebody found something he said?”

Excellent.

Very sophisticated.

Piker has also drawn recent criticism from prominent Democrats over remarks involving American Jews and Israel. Hakeem Jeffries condemned those comments, and Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed later distanced himself from Piker, saying “nobody” speaks for him.

Which created the political equivalent of adopting a raccoon because it has excellent engagement metrics, then panicking when somebody notices it has been living in the ceiling for seven years.

The Democratic outreach strategy now appears to be:

STEP 1: Young men watch Hasan.
STEP 2: Hasan gets millions of views.
STEP 3: Get near Hasan.
STEP 4: Opposition researchers press “search.”
STEP 5: RUN.

Republicans have already been using Piker’s associations and past statements to attack Democrats, particularly in the Michigan Senate race.

The Canton Cat is stunned anybody needed a research department.

“He livestreams,” the Cat said. “This is not the Zodiac Killer. The evidence is uploaded in 1080p.”

The core Democratic problem is real: the party wants stronger reach with younger male voters and knows traditional cable-news appearances are not enough. Piker’s audience is large, loyal, and politically engaged.

The downside is that Hasan Piker comes attached to Hasan Piker.

Apparently nobody put that in the memo.

Campaign consultants are now learning the ancient political rule:

If your influencer strategy requires everyone to develop selective amnesia about everything the influencer has ever said, you do not have a strategy. You have a hostage situation with analytics.

At press time, Democratic operatives had reportedly unveiled a groundbreaking new vetting procedure:

GOOGLE THE PERSON BEFORE THE CANDIDATE TAKES A PICTURE WITH HIM.

The Canton Cat applauded.

“Congratulations. Politics has discovered due diligence.”