‘I relish when my foes hate me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the most prominent personalities on the US left

Hasan Piker refers to it an everyday benchmark: “You get on a bus and you have half a minute to explain any online event took place to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, regardless of how heated, does not pass the test, he argues – not least a strange event last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the rest of this article.

Existing in the Blurred Zone

Piker finds himself in this gray area more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known primarily to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “traditional media” for his views on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately discussed demographic, young men.

A Favorite Target for the Political Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a favorite 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 progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his physique in revealing magazine spreads or social media posts.

“To be frank, 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 ever think 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 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker says. 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 eventually hosted his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he chose to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“You can find ideological diversity amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he notes.

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they just 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 no loyal member of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.”

Firestorms 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 suspended from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there.

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

Offline Repercussions

The vitriol increasingly 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 letting him go. “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, yelped suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent 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 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 Divide Between Online and Offline Worlds

This highlights the difference 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 hysterical and odd. Exchanges on the internet create this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The assassination of a right-wing commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can lead. Piker watched the event unfold 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. Unhealthy parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

The Future and Staying Grounded

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 avenues where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the progressive 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 life or death at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything 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 occasional media guest spots, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

But 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 lengthy live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.