‘I adore when my adversaries loathe me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the most prominent figures on the American political left

Hasan Piker refers to it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to explain whatever online event occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how heated, fails the test, he argues – including a strange event last weekend, 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!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the significance of that specific event could easily take the remainder of this article.

Occupying the In-Between Space

Piker finds himself in this gray area more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was familiar primarily to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “offline circles” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Political Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his c critics there is a lot to criticize: his blunt 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 – does not fit stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance 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,” 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 early and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming 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 majoring in political science. He graduated to his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he decided to go solo on Twitch, to provide an alternative to what he saw as overwhelmingly rightwing, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological variety among the gamers, among the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says.

The Challenge with the American Left

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

Piker is consistently sharply critical of past administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democratic and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in much of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain state policies have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for a different major global power, after a trip there.

“I have no issues getting vilified by people on the right. I love 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 questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. They questioned him about his views before letting him go. “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 harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the ambush by a random 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 Divide Between Online and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “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 create this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Finding Balance

Having been prescient 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 left candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He points to the progressive “wing”.

“We have to lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of life or death at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything 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 traditional political office. He makes occasional media appearances, but he’s not drawn 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 emotional 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.