‘I love when my adversaries despise me’: how Hasan Piker rose to become one of the most prominent voices on the American left

Hasan Piker refers to it a simple litmus test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have half a minute to describe any online phenomena took place to the bus driver before them turning to you and saying, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how intense, does not pass the test, he argues – not least a strange event recently, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of this particular event could easily take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Space

Piker finds himself in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a prime target of the political right. To his detractors there is plenty to dislike: his blunt political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his physique in revealing magazine spreads or social media posts.

“To be frank, I had no clue 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 preparing to start his regular 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking unscripted 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 messages from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the left-leaning 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 counterbalance what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often divisive views that infested the space.

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

The Problem with the American Left

This is the fundamental problem with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many arenas to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they just 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 dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in much of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain state policies have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing praise for another major global power, after a trip there.

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

Offline Repercussions

The vitriol increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his political opinions before letting him go. “I think they did it because they are aware of 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 conspiracy theorists swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a random in Dublin.

Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and shared with his reply 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 negative energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Interactions on the internet foster this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling less safe. The assassination 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 continues to do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded

Having been prescient about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some semblance 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 embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he continues. “So I will do anything in my power to try and prevent a worse alternative.”

The American left could arguably 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 legacy media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from legacy 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.