‘I relish when my adversaries hate me’: how Hasan Piker became among the biggest personalities on the US left

Hasan Piker dubs it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to describe whatever online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, regardless of how intense, does not pass 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; attempting to explain the significance of that specific event could easily take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Space

Piker operates in this gray area increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his views on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Right

Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his blunt political stances; his cultural background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his appearance in shirtless magazine spreads or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, 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 ever think 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 daily 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of comments 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 progressive 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 counterbalance what he saw as overwhelmingly rightwing, and often toxic views that infested the space.

“You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this arena is so heavily 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 conceded so many arenas to the right. “You still have to promote 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, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in most of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents ammunition. He has been temporarily banned 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 national tragedy that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there.

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

Real-World Consequences

The vitriol increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his return 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 originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out 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 clipped from his live stream and disseminated with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Difference Between Online and Real Worlds

This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions on the internet create this environment where you can be as hostile 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 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 years,” he says. Toxic parasocial relationships come with the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Finding Balance

Having been prescient about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, but if you look at the avenues 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 “wing”.

“We have to embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and prevent a dark alternative.”

The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.”

But on top of that, he clearly 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 lengthy live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.