‘I relish when my foes despise me’: how Hasan Piker became a leading the most prominent personalities on the American left

Hasan Piker dubs it an everyday benchmark: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have half a minute to clarify whatever online event occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, regardless of how heated, does not pass the test, he contends – including an incident recently, when someone 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 importance of that specific event could easily take the rest of this article.

Navigating the In-Between Zone

Piker operates in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was known primarily to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “the real world” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly discussed demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Political Right

Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his direct political stances; his cultural background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit typical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his appearance in revealing magazine spreads or social media posts.

“To be frank, 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 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 regular 11am show. He typically broadcasts live for seven or eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about the news, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career started out 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 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 toxic views that infested the space.

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

The Problem with the American Left

This is the fundamental problem with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve ceded so many battlegrounds to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is regularly critical of recent 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 democrat and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his opponents fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of certain state policies have led to accusations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for a different major global power, after a trip there.

“I have no issues 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 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 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 swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major 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 clipped from his live stream and disseminated with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said.

The Difference Between Digital and Offline Worlds

This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very hard to maintain a very negative energy in the real world and not coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions on the internet foster this environment where you can be as aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling 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 still do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Finding Balance

Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker view the next few years? “Things change quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the left candidates that are actually really 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 life or death at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.”

The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in mainstream 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 still 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 marathon live stream awaits, and he’s itching to get started.