Hasan Piker, the 35-year-old socialist streamer whose name has become a political football, is facing renewed criticism after an Axios interview in which he said the US had committed more atrocities than al-Qaida. The interview is blowing up his phone, with requests from reporters streaming in and comments flooding his replies.
Despite months of efforts by political opponents to raise his profile and tie Democratic candidates to his most inflammatory comments, many voters do not know who Piker is. Ahead of November’s US midterm elections, Republicans have fixated on him, holding him up as a representative of their targets: socialists, leftists and Muslims.
The Voters Who Don’t Care
Voters tell the Guardian they haven’t heard of Piker or they know who he is but his name doesn’t factor into their voting decisions. Instead, they cite issues like gas prices, the war in Iran, healthcare, AI, immigration and corruption.
Republicans continue to use images of Piker in their midterm campaign ads, such as a photograph of him nearly nude displayed on the jumbotron at the party’s convention. After El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in the swing state of Michigan, campaigned with Piker during the primary, Republicans have linked the two together. El-Sayed has since moved away from that connection.
The Numbers Behind the Noise
Each day Piker broadcasts for seven hours without pause, and hundreds of thousands of viewers join him at any given moment. His Twitch audience numbers over 3 million, while his YouTube tally sits at close to 2 million and his X following hovers around 2 million.
The remark that caused the most controversy came in 2019, when he said “America deserved 9/11.” That statement was used in an advertisement put out by Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who employed it as a way to attack El-Sayed. In August, Piker spoke up again, saying “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action – not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews”, while talking about Democratic Michigan congressional candidate Jeremy Moss. His opposition to Israel became the central issue during the Michigan Senate primary, where he faced pro-Israel congresswoman Haley Stevens.
He has since said the “America deserved 9/11” comment was “inappropriate.”
A Streamer’s Path to Politics
The host grew up across two continents: he was born in New Jersey but spent most of his youth in Turkey. His parents came from that country as immigrants, with his father working as a political scientist and his mother serving as an architectural and art historian. Before building his own career, he served as an intern at The Young Turks while attending Rutgers University, where the network was co-founded by his uncle, Cenk Uygur.
Before departing to build his own Twitch platform, he hosted a show on the network, and began streaming there in 2018.
| Platform | Followers |
|---|---|
| Twitch | More than 3 million |
| YouTube | Nearly 2 million |
| X | Nearly 2 million |
The Attacks He Takes in Stride
Piker says the attacks do not overly trouble him. He told the Guardian that Republicans believe the focus on him is an incredible narrative, and that they truly believe it is successful. He is willing to bet it is because they are “fucking brain-poisoned by the internet.”
He claims he has attempted to maintain a serious demeanor throughout the campaign period, showing up at events dressed in his customary suit and tie. He is not working on behalf of any candidate in the general election, unlike during the Democratic primaries, when he was photographed alongside several hopefuls, including El-Sayed in Michigan and Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania.
Why He Is the Target
Piker suggests Republicans target him more than his affiliation because it means fewer questions about policy and their opponents: “It’s a missed opportunity when they constantly have to answer ‘What about Hasan Piker?'”
He sees the focus on him as a wider test for a potential 2028 presidential run from the left by a candidate like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Most people on the left are in some way, shape or form connected back to my community, or myself, or organizations that I work with,” he says. “This is an active way to try and eliminate a political opponent before it becomes too big of a problem for them.”
During his speech at the UN general assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited one of Piker’s most controversial remarks from the stage.
The Moderates Using Him Too
The moderate wing of the Democratic Party has treated Piker as a stand-in for its struggle with the party’s rising left, which recorded important wins in primary contests this year. The dynamic is straightforward: both sides discover it is simpler to discuss a streamer than to debate health insurance or the cost of living.
It is still unclear if voters actually care about Hasan Piker. The available evidence points to a lack of interest.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs Hasan Piker’s right to speak freely, even when his words draw criticism, and is against any attempt by political opponents to use his name as a proxy to attack socialists, leftists and Muslims ahead of November’s US midterm elections. The attacks on Piker are part of a broader strategy to weaponize identity politics, and the paper opposes that strategy wherever it appears.
The paper’s position is that individuals should be judged by their own words and actions, not by the company they keep or the labels others try to pin on them. When Republicans hold up Piker as a representative of socialists, leftists and Muslims, they are using him as a proxy to attack those groups broadly, and that is a tactic the paper opposes.
The paper also notes that many voters do not know who Piker is and that his name does not factor into their voting decisions. Instead, they cite issues like gas prices, the war in Iran, healthcare, AI, immigration and corruption — real concerns that deserve honest answers from candidates rather than distractions.
Source material: “Who cares about Hasan Piker?,” The Guardian.
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