🔗 Share this article ‘I love when my foes hate me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as among the largest personalities on the American political left Hasan Piker refers to it an everyday benchmark: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have 30 seconds to describe any online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver without them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, regardless of how heated, does not pass the test, he says – including an incident recently, when someone on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article. Occupying the Gray Zone Piker finds himself in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was familiar only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men. A Favorite Target for the Political Right Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his direct political stances; his cultural background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts. “I’ll be honest, I had no clue that this is what I was going to be doing,” states 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 the morning and he’s getting ready to start his regular late morning show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours straight, talking improvised 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 messages from viewers. From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. His 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 dominantly rightwing, and often toxic views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological variety amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says. The Problem with the American Left This is the core issue with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is regularly critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in most of the world.” Controversies and Criticism One of the risks of Piker’s type of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate. Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for a different major global power, after a trip there. “I have no problem getting vilified by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.” Real-World Repercussions The vitriol increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his political opinions before releasing him. “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 mistreating the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush by a random in Dublin. Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited from his live stream and shared with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said. The Difference Between Online and Offline 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. Interactions on the internet create 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 conservative commentator was a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. 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 years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he acknowledges. The Future and Finding Balance 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 truly 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 continues. “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 doesn’t sound as if Piker is tempted in traditional political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” And on top of that, he still 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 itching to get started.
Hasan Piker refers to it an everyday benchmark: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have 30 seconds to describe any online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver without them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, regardless of how heated, does not pass the test, he says – including an incident recently, when someone on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article. Occupying the Gray Zone Piker finds himself in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was familiar only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men. A Favorite Target for the Political Right Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his direct political stances; his cultural background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts. “I’ll be honest, I had no clue that this is what I was going to be doing,” states 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 the morning and he’s getting ready to start his regular late morning show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours straight, talking improvised 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 messages from viewers. From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. His 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 dominantly rightwing, and often toxic views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological variety amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says. The Problem with the American Left This is the core issue with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is regularly critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in most of the world.” Controversies and Criticism One of the risks of Piker’s type of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate. Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for a different major global power, after a trip there. “I have no problem getting vilified by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.” Real-World Repercussions The vitriol increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his political opinions before releasing him. “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 mistreating the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush by a random in Dublin. Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited from his live stream and shared with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said. The Difference Between Online and Offline 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. Interactions on the internet create 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 conservative commentator was a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. 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 years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he acknowledges. The Future and Finding Balance 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 truly 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 continues. “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 doesn’t sound as if Piker is tempted in traditional political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” And on top of that, he still 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 itching to get started.