‘I adore when my enemies hate me’: the way Hasan Piker rose to become among the biggest personalities on the American left

Hasan Piker dubs it a simple litmus test: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to clarify whatever online phenomena took place to the bus driver without them turning to you and saying, ‘Get off the fucking bus.’” Most online discourse, regardless of how fiery, fails the test, he says – not least an incident last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the significance of that specific event could easily take the remainder of this article.

Occupying the Blurred Space

Piker increasingly exists in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly discussed demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Right

Predictably, this also makes 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 left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance 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. “For instance, 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 daily late morning show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker explains. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up between New Jersey and Istanbul before studying political science. He graduated to 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 infested the space.

“You can find ideological diversity amongst the gamers, among 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 fundamental problem with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many cultural spaces to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they just 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 major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of certain state policies have led to accusations of bias, which he denies. He has also been mocked for expressing praise for a different 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 Consequences

The vitriol increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained 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 hostility 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, igniting a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” 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 Divide Between Online 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 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 admits to feeling 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 develop in real time on his stream.

Piker continues to do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Toxic parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Finding Balance

Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite rapidly, but if you look at the avenues 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 “wing”.

“We have to embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he continues. “So I will do everything in my power to try and prevent 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 drawn further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

And 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 awaits, and he’s itching to get started.