‘I love when my adversaries hate me’: how Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the most prominent voices on the US political left

Hasan Piker dubs it a simple litmus test: “You get on a bus and you have half a minute to explain whatever online phenomena occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” Most online debate, regardless of how fiery, fails the test, he says – not least a strange event recently, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the importance of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article.

Occupying the In-Between Space

Piker finds himself in this gray area more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “the real world” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately discussed demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his detractors there is plenty to dislike: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“To be frank, I had no clue that this is what I was going to be doing,” states Piker. “For instance, 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 getting ready to start his daily 11am show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about the news, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker explains. 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 studying political science. He graduated to his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he chose to go solo on Twitch, to provide an alternative to what he saw as overwhelmingly rightwing, and often toxic views that infested the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological diversity amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political commentary in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he says.

The Problem with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently critical of past administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in much of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken 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 admiration for another major global power, after a trip there.

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

Real-World Consequences

The hate constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his return from a trip. They questioned him about his views before releasing him. “I think they did it because they are aware of 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 jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a stranger in Dublin.

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

The Difference Between Online and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “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 aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator was a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event develop in real time on his stream.

Piker continues to do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Toxic parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Finding Balance

Having been prescient about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite rapidly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He references the progressive “left flank”.

“We have to lean into 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 doesn’t sound 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 traditional publishers.”

And on top of that, he clearly enjoys it: “I find a lot of emotional 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.