‘I love when my enemies loathe me’: the way Hasan Piker rose to become a leading the largest figures on the American political left

Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have a brief moment to clarify whatever online event occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how heated, does not pass the test, he contends – including an incident last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article.

Existing in the Blurred Zone

Piker finds himself in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the very online, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Hate Figure for the Right

Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to criticize: his outspoken political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies typical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid his physique in revealing magazine spreads or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, 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 ever think that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?”

It’s the morning and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He usually streams live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about the news, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the constant stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive 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 provide an alternative to what he saw as overwhelmingly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological variety among the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this hobby is so heavily dominated by the right,” he says.

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the core issue with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve conceded so many arenas to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they just 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 democratic and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal 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 sometimes go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain government actions have led to accusations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for another major global power, after a trip there.

“I have no issues getting vilified by people on the right. I love 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 American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They questioned him about his views 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 detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the ambush by a random in Dublin.

Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and disseminated with his response 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 difficult to maintain a very negative energy in the real world without coming across as hysterical 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 feels less safe. The assassination of a right-wing commentator was a shocking 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. Toxic one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he accepts.

Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded

Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the avenues 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 life or death at this point,” he continues. “So I will do everything in my power to try and prevent a dark alternative.”

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

But on top of that, he still 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 marathon live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.