Oklahoma’s Democratic Senate candidate N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas told progressive political streamer Hasan Piker on a Twitch stream that it is wrong to equate Zionism with Judaism.
Thomas, 31, is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, supported by President Donald Trump, in the November 3 special election in a deeply Republican state.
Her stance reflects the growing progressive-left view that criticism of Israel’s government and its war in Gaza is not equivalent to antisemitism. This is rejected by many Jewish leaders and organizations, who say that support for Israel is an essential element of Jewish identity for most American Jews.
The exchange came up when Piker shared some Oklahoma history.
“The first synagogue in Oklahoma was built 40 years before Israel even existed, in 1908. Fun fact,” Piker said.
Thomas pointed out that Oklahoma was already a state by that time.
“We were actually a state by 1907, so it came right after statehood. Interesting, interesting,” she said.
Here is the full quote from the interview: “So it has nothing to do with their religion, because it’s not even about Judaism. It’s really about humanism, if that makes sense. Like … kind of think about it … Netanyahu’s a white supremacist. Like, he’s not even utilizing Judaism. Does that make sense?”
Piker agreed and compared the statement to the rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan.
“No, it does, 100%. It’s the same exact racist sentiment that we hear from, you know, Klansmen here in the United States of America,” Piker said. “The way Netanyahu, the way that the Israeli government broadly, or even Israeli society broadly, talks about Arabs and talks about Muslims and talks about Palestinians is not all …”
Both statements are correct. Oklahoma was admitted as the 46th state on November 16, 1907. Temple B’nai Israel, founded in Oklahoma City in 1903, opened its synagogue at 50 Broadway Circle in January 1908, which historians describe as the state’s first permanent Jewish house of worship. Israel declared its independence in May 1948.
Jewish life in Oklahoma dates back even earlier. Ardmore, where Thomas was born, had the state’s first Jewish congregation, established in 1890.
Netanyahu’s government denied charges of genocide and said its Gaza operation targeted Hamas following events in October. An attack on southern Israel on September 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people.
Thomas is a nurse, a military spouse, and a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. She was born and raised in Ardmore. She identifies herself as Black, white, and Native American, and this is her first attempt to run for office.
She led five Democrats in the June primary with 45.2% of the vote. She won the August 25 runoff with 61.2%, defeating Jim Priest, a lawyer and ordained minister who ran as a moderate and had raised much more money.
Thomas thus became the first major-party Oklahoma nominee to identify herself as a democratic socialist, though she is not a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She supports Medicare for All, universal child care, paid family leave, and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but she disagrees with the organization on cutting military funding.
She has promised never to take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful lobbying group that backs Israel. In her campaign video last year, she showed a huge trash can marked with AIPAC and corporate PAC money. AIPAC has not spent money in this race.
At a debate ahead of the runoff, Thomas accused Netanyahu personally of genocide in Gaza and called for ending U.S. funding for the war.
“He is committing genocide. He is absolutely murdering children,” she said.
She also backed the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli officials. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction.
In a statement to Jewish media, Thomas said her concerns “have never been about Jewish people, Judaism, or Israel’s existence.” She said she stands with Jewish people against antisemitism and supports creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel so that both peoples could live in peace and security.
Thomas has presented other issues in the same way. Early this month, she told theGrio that Trump’s efforts to restore Columbus Day represent white supremacy, and she called on Black and Native American communities to unite against it.
Thomas is still a very long shot. Oklahoma has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1990. Trump won the state by almost 35 points in 2024, and independent forecasters rate the seat solidly Republican.
Hern, a former aerospace engineer and McDonald’s franchise owner, was elected to the House in 2018 and won the Republican nomination without a primary in June. His campaign account once neared $10 million, while Thomas had raised just under $60,000 by late August.
Following her runoff victory, Hern called Thomas and other socialist Democrats “wildly out of touch with the values of Oklahomans.” He strongly supports Israel, calling it “a strong friend and essential ally,” and in 2024 criticized Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer for saying Netanyahu had lost his way.
The seat became vacant following the confirmation of Sen. Markwayne Mullin to serve as the Homeland Security secretary on March 23. Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Alan Armstrong, head of the energy firm Williams, as interim senator, preventing him from running. Libertarian Sevier White and independents Curtis Stinnett and Ron Meinhardt are also on the ballot, with early voting through Saturday.
Piker, one of the most popular political streamers on Twitch, considers Zionism to be racist and claims that Hamas is “1,000 times better” than Israel. His interviews with Democratic candidates have come under increasing scrutiny.
In August, prominent Democrats denounced Piker after he claimed on a stream that some Americans’ support for Israel can contribute to antisemitism. The Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan, who is associated with Piker, distanced himself from the comments. Piker said he was trying to warn about a misconception equating Zionism and Judaism.
Many Jewish leaders reject the distinction that Thomas and Piker draw. A historian of antisemitism writing for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency said that Zionism cannot be divorced from Judaism and cited a poll showing that nearly 9 out of 10 American Jews support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. The ADL, a major Jewish civil rights organization, has said that Piker’s rhetoric normalizes antisemitism.
