‘I relish when my adversaries loathe me’: the way Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the biggest personalities on the American left

Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have 30 seconds to explain whatever online drama occurred to the bus driver before them turning to you and saying, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” Most online conversation, no matter how fiery, does not pass the test, he contends – including an incident 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; attempting to explain the significance of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the Gray Space

Piker finds himself in this gray area increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was familiar only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “traditional media” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Target for the Political Right

Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime target 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 resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless magazine spreads 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 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 daily late morning show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of comments from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he was raised 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 overwhelmingly conservative, and often toxic views that infested the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological variety 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 says.

The Problem with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve conceded 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 regularly sharply 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 position is actually the normal position in most of the world.”

Firestorms and Backlash

One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his critics ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen.

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

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

Offline Repercussions

The hate constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They interrogated him about his political opinions before releasing him. “I think they did it because they are aware of 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, yelped suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out 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 Digital and Real Worlds

This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very hard to maintain a very negative energy in the real world and not coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions 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 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Toxic parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Staying Grounded

Having been prescient about a recent election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the left 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 prevent a dark alternative.”

The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes occasional media guest spots, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from traditional 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 awaits, and he’s itching to get started.