‘I relish when my enemies loathe me’: how Hasan Piker rose to become among the most prominent personalities on the American left

Hasan Piker calls it an everyday benchmark: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have 30 seconds to clarify any online event unfolded to the bus driver before them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online conversation, no matter how fiery, does not pass the test, he says – not least an incident 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; attempting to explain the importance of that specific event might well take the rest of this article.

Existing in the Gray Zone

Piker operates in this in-between space more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was familiar primarily to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Target for the Political Right

Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to dislike: his blunt political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations 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 appearance 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,” says 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 early and he’s getting ready to start his regular 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking improvised about current affairs, lifestyle stories, 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 Solo Streaming

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker says. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up between New Jersey and Istanbul before studying political science. He graduated to his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he decided to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as overwhelmingly rightwing, and often toxic views that permeated the space.

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

The Problem with the American Left

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

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

Firestorms and Backlash

One of the risks of Piker’s type of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his opponents fodder. He has been temporarily banned 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 amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised 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 mocked for expressing admiration for a different major global power, after a trip there.

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

Real-World Repercussions

The hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They interrogated him about his political opinions before releasing him. “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 jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a stranger in Dublin.

Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited 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 difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world without coming across as hysterical and odd. Exchanges on the internet foster 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 fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. 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 guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Staying Grounded

Having been prescient 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 left 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 adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and prevent a dark alternative.”

The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.”

But on top of that, he clearly 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.