‘I love when my adversaries hate me’: how Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the most prominent figures on the American left

Hasan Piker calls it an everyday benchmark: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have half a minute to describe any online drama took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online conversation, regardless of how intense, fails the test, he argues – not least an incident last weekend, 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!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of that specific event could easily take the remainder of this article.

Occupying the In-Between Zone

Piker increasingly exists in this in-between space more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was familiar primarily to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly 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 views on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Hate Figure for the Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite hate figure of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his direct political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also resent 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.

“I’ll be honest, 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 the morning and he’s preparing to start his regular 11am show. He usually 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 responding to the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious 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 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 overwhelmingly rightwing, and often toxic views that infested the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological diversity amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but unfortunately, 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 broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently critical of past administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “empathy-first”, he explains. “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 ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain state policies have led to allegations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for a different major global power, after a trip there.

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

Offline Repercussions

The vitriol increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. They interrogated 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 started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush 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 response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Online and Real Worlds

This highlights the difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative 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 relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative 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. Toxic parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

The Future 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 progressive 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 critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything in my power to try and prevent a worse alternative.”

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

And on top of that, he clearly enjoys it: “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 awaits, and he’s eager to get started.