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

Hasan Piker refers to it an everyday benchmark: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to explain whatever online drama took place to the bus driver without them turning to you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, regardless of how heated, does not pass the test, he contends – not least an incident recently, when a person on a Dublin street asked 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 meaning of this particular event might well take the rest of this article.

Occupying the Blurred Space

Piker increasingly exists in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-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 channel Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “the real world” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Political Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to criticize: his outspoken political stances; his cultural background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his physique in revealing 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 getting ready to start his daily late morning show. He typically broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Establishing himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. His parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up 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 dominantly rightwing, and often divisive views that infested the space.

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

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently sharply critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is no loyal member of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in most of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was ill-chosen.

Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for a different major global power, after a trip there.

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

Real-World Consequences

The hate increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his re-entry 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, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a random in Dublin.

Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited from his live stream and shared with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Digital and Real 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 unhinged and odd. Interactions on the internet foster 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 shocking example of where this online hate can lead. Piker watched the event unfold in real time on his stream.

Piker continues to 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 are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

The Future and Finding Balance

Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change 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 “left flank”.

“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 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 guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.”

And 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 marathon live stream is about to begin, and he’s eager to get started.