🔗 Share this article ‘I adore when my foes despise me’: how Hasan Piker emerged as a leading the largest voices on the US left Hasan Piker dubs it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to explain any online event occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how heated, fails the test, he argues – including a strange event last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the significance of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article. Occupying the Blurred Space Piker increasingly exists in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known primarily to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately discussed demographic, young men. A Favorite Target for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite hate figure of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to dislike: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit typical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid his physique in shirtless 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 preparing to start his regular late morning show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about the news, lifestyle stories, 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 Twitch Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker says. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. His parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up between New Jersey and Istanbul before studying political science. He eventually hosted his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he chose to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as overwhelmingly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he notes. The Challenge with the American Left This is the core problem with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve conceded so many cultural spaces 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 regularly sharply critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.” Controversies and Criticism One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen. Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for a different 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 says. “It is what it is.” Real-World Consequences The vitriol constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They interrogated him about his views before letting him go. “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 conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out 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 reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said. The Divide Between Online and Real Worlds This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Interactions on the internet foster this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a right-wing 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 one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges. Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the left 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 anything in my power to try and avoid a dark alternative.” The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes occasional media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience 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 awaits, and he’s eager to get started.
Hasan Piker dubs it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to explain any online event occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how heated, fails the test, he argues – including a strange event last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the significance of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article. Occupying the Blurred Space Piker increasingly exists in this liminal zone more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known primarily to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately discussed demographic, young men. A Favorite Target for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite hate figure of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to dislike: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit typical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid his physique in shirtless 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 preparing to start his regular late morning show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about the news, lifestyle stories, 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 Twitch Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker says. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. His parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up between New Jersey and Istanbul before studying political science. He eventually hosted his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he chose to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as overwhelmingly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he notes. The Challenge with the American Left This is the core problem with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve conceded so many cultural spaces 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 regularly sharply critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.” Controversies and Criticism One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his opponents ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen. Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for a different 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 says. “It is what it is.” Real-World Consequences The vitriol constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his re-entry from a trip. They interrogated him about his views before letting him go. “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 conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out 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 reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said. The Divide Between Online and Real Worlds This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Interactions on the internet foster this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a right-wing 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 one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges. Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the left 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 anything in my power to try and avoid a dark alternative.” The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes occasional media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience 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 awaits, and he’s eager to get started.