‘I relish when my enemies despise me’: how Hasan Piker became one of the largest figures on the American left

Hasan Piker dubs it the bus driver test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have a brief moment to explain whatever online phenomena occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he says – not least a strange event recently, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the significance of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article.

Existing in the Blurred Space

Piker finds himself in this in-between space increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was familiar only to the very online, 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 analysis on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately discussed demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a prime villain of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to criticize: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless magazine spreads or social media posts.

“To be frank, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” says Piker. “For instance, 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 getting ready to start his daily 11am show. He typically streams live for seven to eight hours straight, talking unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, 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

Establishing 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 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.

“There’s a lot of ideological variety amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst 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 fundamental problem with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve conceded so many battlegrounds to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

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

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, 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 relish when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.”

Real-World Consequences

The hate constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American 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 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 swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” 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 disseminated with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Digital and Offline Worlds

This highlights the difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Interactions 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 fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can lead. Piker watched the event develop 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 over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Staying Grounded

Having been accurate about a recent 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 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 anything 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 interested in traditional political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not drawn further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy 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 is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.