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

Hasan Piker dubs it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to explain whatever online drama unfolded to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, no matter how intense, does not pass the test, he contends – not least a strange event last weekend, 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!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article.

Occupying the Blurred Space

Piker finds himself in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his views on the struggling political left, and especially that constantly discussed demographic, young men.

A Prime Hate Figure for the Political Right

Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to criticize: his direct political views; his cultural background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies typical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid his appearance in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, 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 the morning and he’s getting ready to start his regular 11am show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at 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 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 majoring in 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 rightwing, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political commentary in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he says.

The Problem with the American Left

This is the core issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve conceded so many battlegrounds to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they just completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is regularly critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in much of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was inappropriate.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration 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 states. “It is what it is.”

Offline Consequences

The vitriol increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his return 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 enmity help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists swiftly concluded that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush by a random in Dublin.

Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and shared with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said.

The Divide Between Online and Offline Worlds

This highlights the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very hard to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Exchanges on the internet foster 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 assassination of a right-wing commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event unfold in real time on his stream.

Piker continues to do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear guide 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 prescient about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually truly 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 arguably do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is tempted in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

But on top of that, he still finds it fulfilling: “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 eager to get started.