‘I adore when my enemies despise me’: how Hasan Piker emerged as among the biggest personalities on the American left

Hasan Piker refers to it an everyday benchmark: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to describe whatever online drama unfolded to the bus driver before them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how fiery, fails the test, he says – including a strange event recently, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the importance of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Zone

Piker finds himself in this in-between space increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was known primarily to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely 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 analysis on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a favorite hate figure of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his direct political views; his cultural background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid 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. “For instance, 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 preparing to start his regular late morning show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours straight, talking improvised about current affairs, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of messages from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career began 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 counterbalance what he saw as overwhelmingly rightwing, and often divisive views that infested the space.

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

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they just 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 not a loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the standard position in most of the world.”

Controversies and Backlash

One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language 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 praise 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.”

Offline Repercussions

The vitriol constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his return 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 jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a random in Dublin.

Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and shared with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Digital and Real Worlds

This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Exchanges on the internet foster this environment where you can be as aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can lead. 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Toxic one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he accepts.

Looking Ahead and Finding Balance

Having been prescient about a recent election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, 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 “left flank”.

“We have to lean into 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 dark alternative.”

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

And 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 eager to get started.