‘I love when my enemies hate me’: how Hasan Piker rose to become one of the biggest figures on the American left

Hasan Piker dubs it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to describe any online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how intense, fails the test, he says – including 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; attempting to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the rest of this article.

Navigating the Gray Space

Piker operates in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions 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 resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit typical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged 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. “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 regular late morning show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for livestreaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker explains. His media career began with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. His 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 decided to go solo on Twitch, to provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

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

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the fundamental problem with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many battlegrounds 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 not a loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in much of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was ill-chosen.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations of bias, which he denies. He has also been mocked 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 states. “It is what it is.”

Offline Repercussions

The vitriol increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his return from travel abroad. They interrogated 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, yelped suddenly. Online detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a meme-fueled 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 edited from his live stream and shared with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Online and Offline Worlds

This highlights the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative energy in the real world and not coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions 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 conservative 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. Unhealthy parasocial relationships are part of the territory, he accepts.

Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded

Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, but if you look at the areas where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He references 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 adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.”

The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not drawn further into legacy 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 lengthy live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.