‘I love when my adversaries despise me’: the way Hasan Piker became among the most prominent personalities on the American political left

Hasan Piker refers to it an everyday benchmark: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have half a minute to explain any online drama unfolded to the bus driver before them looking at you and going, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online conversation, no matter how intense, fails the test, he says – not least an incident last weekend, 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!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the importance of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Zone

Piker increasingly exists 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, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “offline circles” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Political Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to criticize: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit typical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid his physique 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,” 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 getting ready to start his daily 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about current affairs, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious 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 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 provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, among the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, 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 issue with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve conceded so many cultural spaces to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on 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 broadly social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the standard position in most of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the language was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain government actions have led to accusations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing praise 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 says. “It is what it is.”

Offline Consequences

The hate increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his political opinions before releasing him. “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 jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming 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 stranger in Dublin.

Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited 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 Digital and Real 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 without coming across as hysterical and odd. Interactions 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 admits to feeling less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator was 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 parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

The Future and Staying Grounded

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 avenues 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 anything in my power to try and avoid a dark alternative.”

The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is tempted in traditional 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 legacy publishers.”

And 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 eager to get started.