‘I adore when my adversaries despise me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as among the largest figures on the US left

Hasan Piker refers to it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to explain whatever online phenomena occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online conversation, no matter how intense, fails the test, he says – not least a strange event recently, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of this particular event could easily take the remainder of this article.

Existing in the Blurred Space

Piker operates in this gray area more and more 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 platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “the real world” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Political Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his detractors there is plenty to dislike: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations 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 physique in shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“To be frank, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” says 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 early and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He typically broadcasts live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking unscripted about the news, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and interacting with the constant stream of messages from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up between New Jersey and Istanbul before majoring in 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 dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological variety amongst the gamers, among the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political commentary in this hobby 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, says Piker: they’ve ceded so many cultural spaces to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.”

Controversies and Backlash

One of the risks of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his opponents fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain state policies have led to allegations of bias, 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 says. “It is what it is.”

Offline Consequences

The hate constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. 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 hostility help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a stranger in Dublin.

Piker handled the situation 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 Difference Between Digital and Real Worlds

This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very hard to maintain a very negative energy in the real world without 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 admits to feeling less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator was a shocking 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 guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges.

The Future and Finding Balance

Having been accurate 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 references the progressive “wing”.

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

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

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