‘I relish when my enemies despise me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as among the most prominent personalities on the US political left

Hasan Piker calls it a simple litmus test: “You get on a bus and you have half a minute to explain any online event unfolded to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he argues – including an incident last weekend, 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!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article.

Existing in the Blurred Zone

Piker operates in this in-between space increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar primarily to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “traditional media” for his views on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Hate Figure for the Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his detractors there is a lot to dislike: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance in revealing magazine spreads or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, I had no clue that this is what I was going to be doing,” says Piker. “For instance, 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 usually streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking improvised about the news, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of comments from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, which is 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. 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 decided to go solo on Twitch, to provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that infested the space.

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

The Problem with the American Left

This is the fundamental issue with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is regularly critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in much of the world.”

Firestorms and Backlash

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context 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 inappropriate.

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

“I have no problem 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 constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his views before letting him go. “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, yelped suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a stranger 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 Difference Between Digital and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the chasm 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. Interactions on the internet create this environment where you can be as aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator was a shocking 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 are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded

Having been prescient about a recent election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, 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 references 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 avoid a dark alternative.”

The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is tempted in traditional political office. He makes occasional media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional 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.