‘I relish when my enemies despise me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the most prominent voices on the US left

Hasan Piker refers to it a simple litmus test: “You get on a bus and you have half a minute to describe any online drama occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online conversation, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he says – not least an incident recently, 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!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of that specific event might well take the rest of this article.

Navigating the In-Between Zone

Piker finds himself in this in-between space more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his views on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately discussed demographic, young men.

A Favorite Target for the Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his direct political views; his cultural background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless magazine spreads or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, I had no clue 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 early and he’s preparing to start his regular 11am show. He usually streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking improvised about current affairs, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

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 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 eventually hosted 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 conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“You can find ideological variety amongst the gamers, among the developers, amongst the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression 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 broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many cultural spaces to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they just completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in much of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s type of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, 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 wording was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he denies. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for another 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.”

Real-World Consequences

The hate constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. They interrogated 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, yelped suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a random in Dublin.

Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and shared with his response 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 says: “It’s very difficult 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 hostile as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling less safe. The assassination of a right-wing commentator served as a harrowing 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 guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he accepts.

Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded

Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He references 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 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 doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes occasional media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into legacy 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 marathon live stream is about to begin, and he’s eager to get started.