‘I relish when my foes loathe me’: how Hasan Piker became one of the largest voices on the American left

Hasan Piker calls it a simple litmus test: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to explain whatever online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he argues – including a strange event last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the significance of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article.

Occupying the Blurred Space

Piker operates in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “offline circles” for his views on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately discussed demographic, young men.

A Favorite Target for the Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his detractors there is plenty to criticize: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid his appearance in shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, I had no clue that this is what I was going to be doing,” says Piker. “Like, if someone were to ask me, did you imagine that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?”

It’s the morning and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He usually streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about the news, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the constant stream of comments from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker says. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. Piker’s 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 overwhelmingly rightwing, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“You can find ideological diversity amongst the gamers, among the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says.

The Problem with the American Left

This is the core issue with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many cultural spaces to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they just completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is regularly critical of past administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is no loyal member of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in most of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his opponents fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for another major global power, after a trip there.

“I have no problem getting attacked by people on the right. I relish when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.”

Real-World Consequences

The vitriol increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. They interrogated him about his political opinions before letting him go. “I think they did it because they know who I am,” he said.

These levels of hostility help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush by a stranger in Dublin.

Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited from his live stream and disseminated with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said.

The Divide Between Digital and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Exchanges on the internet foster this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling less safe. The assassination of a conservative commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can lead. 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. Toxic one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead 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 semblance of hope, it’s the left candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He references the progressive “left flank”.

“We have to embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of life or death at this point,” he continues. “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 seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes occasional media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

But on top of that, he clearly finds it fulfilling: “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.