‘I relish when my enemies hate me’: how Hasan Piker rose to become one of the most prominent voices on the American left

Hasan Piker refers to it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to describe whatever online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver before them turning to you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online conversation, no matter how intense, fails 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!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Space

Piker finds himself in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was familiar primarily to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his views on the struggling political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his detractors there is a lot to criticize: his outspoken political stances; his cultural background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his physique in shirtless 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 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 daily late morning show. He usually streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking improvised about current affairs, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker explains. His media career started out 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 overwhelmingly conservative, 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 commentary in this arena 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 general, says Piker: they’ve ceded so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently critical of recent administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member 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.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain government actions have led to accusations 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 relish when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.”

Offline Consequences

The hate increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his views 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 started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent 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 edited from his live stream and disseminated with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said.

The Difference Between Digital and Real 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 and not 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 relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The assassination of a right-wing commentator served as 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 guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Toxic parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded

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 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 adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and avoid a dark alternative.”

The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.”

But on top of that, he clearly enjoys it: “I find a lot of personal 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.