‘I adore when my foes loathe me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as among the largest figures on the US political left

Hasan Piker refers to it the bus driver test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have half a minute to clarify any online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver before them turning to you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how intense, does not pass the test, he says – including a strange event recently, when someone on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced 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 remainder of this article.

Navigating the Gray 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 digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately discussed demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Political Right

Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to dislike: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his physique in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, I had no idea 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 early and he’s preparing to start his regular late morning show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about current affairs, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

Beginning at 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 began 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 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 rightwing, and often divisive views that infested the space.

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

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve conceded so many cultural spaces to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is regularly critical of recent administrations on his show, especially 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 informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his critics ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework 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 ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain state policies have led to allegations 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 Consequences

The vitriol constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his return from a trip. They questioned him about his political opinions 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 mistreating the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush by a random 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 shocked,” he said.

The Divide Between Digital and Real Worlds

This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very hard to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world without coming across as hysterical and odd. Exchanges on the internet create 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 shocking example of where this online hate can end up. 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he acknowledges.

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 really 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 continues. “So I will do everything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.”

The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes occasional media appearances, but he’s not drawn further into legacy media, he says. “The audience 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 personal fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another lengthy live stream awaits, and he’s eager to get started.