‘I relish when my enemies loathe me’: how Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the largest figures on the US political left

Hasan Piker dubs it a simple litmus test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have half a minute to explain any online drama occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how heated, does not pass the test, he contends – including an incident recently, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the rest of this article.

Navigating the In-Between Space

Piker finds himself in this gray area more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was familiar only to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “traditional media” for his views on the beleaguered political left, and especially that constantly discussed demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a prime target of the political right. To his c critics there is a lot to dislike: his direct political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his appearance in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, 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 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 daily 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking unscripted about current affairs, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch

Establishing 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 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 conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

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

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve conceded so many battlegrounds to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned 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 member of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the standard position in much of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s type of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations 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 vilified by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.”

Offline Repercussions

The vitriol constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They interrogated him about his views 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 started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush by a random 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 Online and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very hard to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Exchanges 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 conservative commentator served as a harrowing example of where this online hate can lead. Piker watched the event unfold in real time on his stream.

Piker still 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 one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he accepts.

Looking Ahead and Finding Balance

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

“We have to lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance 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 tempted in mainstream political office. He makes occasional media appearances, 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 still finds it fulfilling: “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.