Fueled by cold brew, zero sugar sodas and stacks of ZYN nicotine pouches, leftist streamer Hasan Piker spends about eight hours a day, seven days a week breaking down political news and election updates to a young audience that also skews very male.
Illuminated by three desktop monitors in the studio he built in his Los Angeles home, Piker began his live broadcast in front of tens of thousands of viewers on a recent Wednesday by talking about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s primary win, the latest campaign polls, the war in Gaza and a ruling in Arizona that a fetus can be referred to as an unborn child.
The online influencer — who has amassed 2.7 million followers on the platform Twitch, 1.42 million subscribers on YouTube and 925,000 followers on TikTok — is among the many political creators who have had meteoric rises in recent years, turning into their own full-fledged niche within the broader media realm.
The key to engaging with his younger audience about politics is not about just embracing memes, like the now-notorious “Brat” summer, which was popularized after the release of British pop star Charli XCX’s album.
“Communicate to them that they are worthy of attention and that their desires are valid and that you’re actually going to do something,” Piker, known online by his username HasanAbi, said in a recent interview with NBC News.
Authenticity is not a novel approach when it comes to content creation. But it’s something politicians have struggled with achieving on their own — particularly amid an election cycle in which many young voters find themselves jaded with politics as a whole.
Overall, young voters are not very optimistic right now, according to NBC News’ Stay Tuned Gen Z poll of over 2,600 voters under 30 in September. Most young people now also gravitate toward social media platforms to get information, according to recent research from Pew.
Piker, 33, launched to internet fame on the progressive YouTube show “The Young Turks,” created and run by his uncle Cenk Uygar. After branching out on his own, he became a prominent voice online, garnering a slew of fans and critics alike.
With such exposure came some controversy as well — in 2021, Piker said he was temporarily kicked off Twitch for using a derogatory term for white people.
Still, Piker’s success as a streamer has been admired by fellow political creators, especially those who are chasing similar progressive audiences.
“He kind of pioneered the space for that style of political coverage he does,” said Austin MacNamara, known as Gremloe on Twitch, where he has built a following of about 18,500 people.
“He’s not the first person to do politics on Twitch, but he’s certainly made it a space where instead of just doing debates or screaming at each other in a discord call, that you could actually grapple with these subjects and really break them down and build community around that, other people who are really big and influential for me personally.”
Sean Wiggs, known as SeanDaBlack on Twitch, also credits Piker with being a major influence on his stream.
“I’ve been in the Hasan community for like 45 months at this point. He was the first person who got me introduced to leftist politics and in a meaningful way,” said Wiggs, who has over 16,000 followers on Twitch, where he is one of the only Black creators on the platform doing political commentary. “Hasan inspired me, even just to be political outside of being a creator, to be political and fight for people that I believe should be fought for.”
The Republican and Democratic Parties have also noticed the influence that creators can hold with their audiences — and in the last year have upped their efforts to court creators in the hopes of engaging with more young voters.
In recent years, Piker said he’s noticed the online political landscape change. In 2020, he said, political discourse was “way more liberal or even left leaning under Trump, due to its counterculture status.”
He kind of pioneered the space for that style of political coverage he does.
-Austin MacNamara, known as Gremloe on Twitch, said of piker
Under President Joe Biden, Piker said, the “gamergate culture war narratives” — referring to the increasing number of misogynistic game-centered communities – have become the forefront of commentary.
“With the rise of Andrew Tate clones, crypto bros and reactionary shock factor streamers, false masculinity peddlers have captured a lot of territory, which is the low propensity voters that have notoriously swung for Trump,” Piker said. “This presents a unique problem for the Democratic Party.”
Last month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago was the first to open its doors to social media content creators, credentialing 200 of them for the four-day event to gain more exposure among online audiences.
For Piker, attending the DNC was a unique opportunity to provide behind-the-scenes access to his audience. He describes himself as an entertainer, with the goal of helping young people make more informed decisions.
“I have more access to politicians than I did in 2020, so I am going to try and use that,” he said, adding that he also hopes to “motivate Democrats towards issues I believe are important to address that will be electorally beneficial.”
Piker said he would like to see Democrats realistically tackle the high cost of living for young people, call for a cease-fire in Gaza and a weapons transfer from Israeli forces, and fight for social justice.
Nearly 100 conservative influencers also attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, where they also created content for their audiences. In recent months, former President Donald Trump has collaborated with major influencers who are popular with young men, including Kick streamer Adin Ross and YouTuber Logan Paul.
Some creators have said they have been offered payment to endorse political candidates. Content creator Tana Mongeau, host of the popular podcast “Cancelled,” recently made headlines after claiming in a recent episode that she was offered millions to endorse a political candidate of a party she said she doesn’t identify with. (She later wrote in the comments section of the video that she is “100% Democrat and voting for Kamala Harris.”) NBC News has not verified these claims.
Piker, who plans to vote for Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in November, said he’s “been approached by political groups, but not a candidate directly.”
“I think they know better,” he said. “I welcome the access every time. I however will never change my opinion for money. Not so sure if others who aren’t political commentators would also hold up similar standards.”
He’s appeared in streams on his channel with politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
With the upcoming election, Piker feels slightly optimistic.
“I think that Kamala Harris is significantly more responsive to the calls from the base than anyone else that I’ve seen thus far in the last two cycles, at least, so that is pretty good,” he said. “The Tim Walz pick was incredible. I think that’s why a lot of young people are currently motivated because they feel heard.”
Come Nov. 5, Piker will be ready for another busy day of streaming.
“I will be strapped into my chair ready to offer real time commentary as always,” he said. “Maybe more guests. I’m hoping Chappell Roan.”
