🔗 Share this article ‘I adore when my adversaries despise me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as one of the most prominent figures on the US political left Hasan Piker calls it a simple litmus test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have a brief moment to clarify any online event took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how heated, does not pass the test, he argues – including an incident last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article. Navigating the In-Between Zone Piker increasingly exists in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was familiar primarily to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men. A Prime Hate Figure for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his direct political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his physique in shirtless magazine spreads or social media posts. “I’ll be honest, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states Piker. “Like, if someone were to ask me, did you ever think that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?” It’s early and he’s getting ready to start his regular late morning show. He typically broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking improvised about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers. Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career began with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. His parents are Turkish immigrants, and he was raised between New Jersey and Istanbul before majoring in political science. He eventually hosted his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he decided to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often divisive views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological variety amongst the gamers, among the developers, amongst the consumers, but sadly, the market for political commentary in this hobby is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes. The Challenge with the American Left This is the fundamental problem with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much of the world.” Firestorms and Criticism One of the dangers of Piker’s type of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for a different major global power, after a trip there. “I have no problem getting vilified by people on the right. I relish when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.” Offline Repercussions The hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his political opinions before releasing him. “I think they did it because they know who I am,” he said. These levels of enmity help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a random in Dublin. Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited from his live stream and shared with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said. The Divide Between Digital and Offline Worlds This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Interactions on the internet create this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event develop in real time on his stream. Piker still do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he accepts. The Future and Finding Balance Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite rapidly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He points to the progressive “left flank”. “We have to lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and prevent a worse alternative.” The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is tempted in traditional political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” But on top of that, he clearly enjoys it: “I find a lot of personal fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another lengthy live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.
Hasan Piker calls it a simple litmus test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have a brief moment to clarify any online event took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how heated, does not pass the test, he argues – including an incident last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article. Navigating the In-Between Zone Piker increasingly exists in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was familiar primarily to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men. A Prime Hate Figure for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his direct political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his physique in shirtless magazine spreads or social media posts. “I’ll be honest, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states Piker. “Like, if someone were to ask me, did you ever think that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?” It’s early and he’s getting ready to start his regular late morning show. He typically broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking improvised about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers. Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career began with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. His parents are Turkish immigrants, and he was raised between New Jersey and Istanbul before majoring in political science. He eventually hosted his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he decided to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often divisive views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological variety amongst the gamers, among the developers, amongst the consumers, but sadly, the market for political commentary in this hobby is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes. The Challenge with the American Left This is the fundamental problem with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much of the world.” Firestorms and Criticism One of the dangers of Piker’s type of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for a different major global power, after a trip there. “I have no problem getting vilified by people on the right. I relish when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.” Offline Repercussions The hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his political opinions before releasing him. “I think they did it because they know who I am,” he said. These levels of enmity help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a random in Dublin. Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited from his live stream and shared with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said. The Divide Between Digital and Offline Worlds This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Interactions on the internet create this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event develop in real time on his stream. Piker still do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he accepts. The Future and Finding Balance Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite rapidly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He points to the progressive “left flank”. “We have to lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and prevent a worse alternative.” The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is tempted in traditional political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” But on top of that, he clearly enjoys it: “I find a lot of personal fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another lengthy live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.