🔗 Share this article From Online Commentator to Political Figurehead: The Ascent of Hasan Piker Hasan Piker dubs it a simple litmus test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have a brief moment to explain whatever online phenomena occurred to the bus driver before them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how intense, fails 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 produced 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 Zone Piker operates in this gray area increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar primarily to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “offline circles” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately discussed demographic, young men. A Prime Hate Figure for the Political Right Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his detractors there is plenty to dislike: his direct political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations 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 shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts. “I’ll be honest, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states Piker. “For instance, if someone were to ask me, did you ever think that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?” It’s early and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He typically broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking improvised about current affairs, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of comments from viewers. From The Young Turks to Twitch Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker explains. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. His 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 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 amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political commentary in this hobby is so heavily dominated by the right,” he says. The Challenge with the American Left This is the fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in most of the world.” Controversies and Backlash One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his critics fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the language was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for another 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.” Offline Repercussions The vitriol increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American 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 hostility help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped 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 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 devastated,” he said. The Difference Between Online 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. 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 conservative commentator was 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. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he accepts. Looking Ahead and Finding Balance Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually really 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 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 legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” But on top of that, he still finds it fulfilling: “I find a lot of emotional 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 dubs it a simple litmus test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have a brief moment to explain whatever online phenomena occurred to the bus driver before them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how intense, fails 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 produced 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 Zone Piker operates in this gray area increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar primarily to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “offline circles” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately discussed demographic, young men. A Prime Hate Figure for the Political Right Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his detractors there is plenty to dislike: his direct political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations 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 shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts. “I’ll be honest, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states Piker. “For instance, if someone were to ask me, did you ever think that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?” It’s early and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He typically broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking improvised about current affairs, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of comments from viewers. From The Young Turks to Twitch Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker explains. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. His 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 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 amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political commentary in this hobby is so heavily dominated by the right,” he says. The Challenge with the American Left This is the fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in most of the world.” Controversies and Backlash One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his critics fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the language was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for another 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.” Offline Repercussions The vitriol increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American 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 hostility help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped 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 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 devastated,” he said. The Difference Between Online 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. 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 conservative commentator was 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. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he accepts. Looking Ahead and Finding Balance Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually really 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 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 legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” But on top of that, he still finds it fulfilling: “I find a lot of emotional 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.