🔗 Share this article ‘I love when my enemies loathe me’: how Hasan Piker emerged as among the most prominent personalities on the US left Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have half a minute to describe any online event occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he argues – including an incident recently, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of that specific event could easily take the remainder of this article. Navigating the Blurred Zone Piker finds himself in this liminal zone increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his views on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men. A Favorite Target for the Right Predictably, this also positions Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to dislike: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged 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,” 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 regular late morning show. He typically streams live for seven to eight hours straight, talking improvised about current affairs, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of messages 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 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 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 dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that infested the space. “There’s a lot of ideological variety among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political commentary in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes. The Problem with the American Left This is the core issue with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently 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 democrat and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My position is actually the normal 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 temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain state policies have led to allegations of bias, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration 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.” Real-World Consequences The vitriol increasingly threatens 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 enmity help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a stranger in Dublin. Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and shared with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said. The Divide Between Digital and Real Worlds This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions on the internet create 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 fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can end up. 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 parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges. Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded Having been prescient about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite quickly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the left candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He references the progressive “left flank”. “We have to embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything 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 interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.” But on top of that, he clearly 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 is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.
Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have half a minute to describe any online event occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he argues – including an incident recently, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of that specific event could easily take the remainder of this article. Navigating the Blurred Zone Piker finds himself in this liminal zone increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his views on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men. A Favorite Target for the Right Predictably, this also positions Piker a prime hate figure of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to dislike: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged 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,” 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 regular late morning show. He typically streams live for seven to eight hours straight, talking improvised about current affairs, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of messages 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 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 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 dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that infested the space. “There’s a lot of ideological variety among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political commentary in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes. The Problem with the American Left This is the core issue with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently 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 democrat and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My position is actually the normal 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 temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain state policies have led to allegations of bias, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration 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.” Real-World Consequences The vitriol increasingly threatens 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 enmity help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a stranger in Dublin. Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and shared with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said. The Divide Between Digital and Real Worlds This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions on the internet create 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 fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can end up. 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 parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges. Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded Having been prescient about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite quickly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the left candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He references the progressive “left flank”. “We have to embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything 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 interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.” But on top of that, he clearly 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 is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.