🔗 Share this article ‘I adore when my enemies despise me’: how Hasan Piker emerged as among the biggest personalities on the US left Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to explain whatever online drama occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online debate, no matter how intense, fails the test, he argues – not least a strange event recently, 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!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article. Existing in the In-Between Space Piker increasingly exists in this gray area increasingly 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 dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his views on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men. A Prime Target for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his physique 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. “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 getting ready to start his regular late morning show. He typically broadcasts live for seven or eight hours straight, talking unscripted about current affairs, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to 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 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 was raised between New Jersey and Istanbul before majoring in 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 conservative, and often toxic views that infested the space. “You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, 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 fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the major 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 Backlash One of the dangers of Piker’s type of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there. “I have no problem getting attacked by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.” Real-World Consequences The hate constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his re-entry 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, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” 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 disseminated with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said. The Divide Between Online and Real Worlds This highlights 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 create 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 was a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. 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 years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he accepts. Looking Ahead and Finding Balance Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer 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 critical importance at this point,” he continues. “So I will do anything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.” The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is tempted in mainstream 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 legacy publishers.” But on top of that, he clearly 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 lengthy live stream awaits, and he’s eager to get started.
Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to explain whatever online drama occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online debate, no matter how intense, fails the test, he argues – not least a strange event recently, 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!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article. Existing in the In-Between Space Piker increasingly exists in this gray area increasingly 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 dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his views on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men. A Prime Target for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his physique 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. “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 getting ready to start his regular late morning show. He typically broadcasts live for seven or eight hours straight, talking unscripted about current affairs, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to 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 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 was raised between New Jersey and Istanbul before majoring in 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 conservative, and often toxic views that infested the space. “You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, 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 fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the major 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 Backlash One of the dangers of Piker’s type of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there. “I have no problem getting attacked by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.” Real-World Consequences The hate constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his re-entry 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, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” 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 disseminated with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said. The Divide Between Online and Real Worlds This highlights 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 create 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 was a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. 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 years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he accepts. Looking Ahead and Finding Balance Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer 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 critical importance at this point,” he continues. “So I will do anything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.” The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is tempted in mainstream 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 legacy publishers.” But on top of that, he clearly 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 lengthy live stream awaits, and he’s eager to get started.