‘I love when my foes loathe me’: the way Hasan Piker rose to become a leading the largest figures on the US political left

Hasan Piker refers to it a simple litmus test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have half a minute to describe whatever online phenomena occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and going, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how fiery, does not pass the test, he contends – not least a strange event last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the importance of that specific event could easily take the rest of this article.

Navigating the In-Between Space

Piker operates in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was familiar only to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “traditional media” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Target for the Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to dislike: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his appearance in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“To be frank, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states 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 the morning and he’s preparing to start his regular 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about the news, lifestyle stories, 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.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform 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. Piker’s 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 decided to go solo on Twitch, to provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often toxic views that permeated the space.

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

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve conceded so many cultural spaces to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently sharply critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in much of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s type of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents fodder. 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 broader critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain government actions have led to accusations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing praise for another 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 says. “It is what it is.”

Offline Consequences

The hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained 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 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 detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the ambush by a stranger in Dublin.

Piker took that encounter 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 devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Digital and Real 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 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 conservative commentator served as 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 are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

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 glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He references the progressive “left flank”.

“We have to embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of life or death at this point,” he continues. “So I will do everything in my power to try and prevent a worse alternative.”

The American left could perhaps 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 tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

And 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 is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.