‘I relish when my enemies hate me’: how Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the largest voices on the American political left

Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have a brief moment to clarify whatever online phenomena occurred 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 heated, fails the test, he argues – including a strange event last weekend, when someone on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the significance of this particular event could easily take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the In-Between Zone

Piker finds himself in this gray area more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar primarily to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Target for the Political Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to criticize: his direct political views; his cultural background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless magazine spreads or social media posts.

“To be frank, 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 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 typically broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for livestreaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker explains. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. His 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 rightwing, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“There’s a lot of 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 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 still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently sharply critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My position is actually the standard position in most of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was inappropriate.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain state policies have led to accusations of bias, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there.

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

Offline Consequences

The hate constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his return from travel abroad. They interrogated 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 hostility help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major 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 reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Online and Offline Worlds

This highlights the difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative 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 aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The assassination 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 over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he acknowledges.

The Future and Staying Grounded

Having been prescient about the last 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 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 lean into 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 doesn’t sound as if Piker is tempted in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.”

But on top of that, he still finds it fulfilling: “I find a lot of emotional 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.