‘I relish when my adversaries loathe me’: the way Hasan Piker became a leading the largest figures on the American political left

Hasan Piker refers to it a simple litmus test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have a brief moment to describe any online phenomena took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how intense, fails the test, he contends – 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!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the significance of this particular event might well take the rest of this article.

Navigating the Gray Zone

Piker operates in this in-between space increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar primarily to the very online, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his detractors there is a lot to dislike: his direct political views; his cultural background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his physique in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“To be frank, 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 the morning and he’s getting ready to start his daily late morning show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about current affairs, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at 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 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 provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often toxic views that infested the space.

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

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the fundamental issue with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve conceded 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 regularly sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in most of the world.”

Firestorms and Backlash

One of the risks of Piker’s type of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his critics ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple 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 national tragedy that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the language was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked 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 says. “It is what it is.”

Real-World Repercussions

The hate increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. They questioned him about his political opinions before releasing him. “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 originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped 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 stranger in Dublin.

Piker handled the situation 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 shocked,” he said.

The Difference Between Online and Real Worlds

This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very hard 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 admits to feeling less safe. The assassination of a conservative commentator was a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. 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 years,” he says. Toxic parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Finding Balance

Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “Things change 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 points to 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 seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

But on top of that, he still 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 awaits, and he’s itching to get started.