As Democrats regroup from last month’s defeat, one voice emerging to guide liberals in processing their loss to President-elect Donald Trump is Hasan Piker, a prominent left-wing Twitch streamer with 2.8 million followers.
On election night, more than 7.5 million viewers tuned into Piker’s livestream, surpassing the viewership of MSNBC and CNN.
“I don’t think the Democratic Party can podcast itself out of this issue,” Piker told CNN, responding to criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris for skipping an appearance with popular podcaster Joe Rogan. “They need to change their policies.”
While some see Piker’s digital savvy and left-wing appeal as a potential asset for Democrats, his growing influence is shadowed by controversy.
Known online as Hasanabi, Piker has a documented history of using antisemitic tropes in his discussions of Israel and the Jewish community. He has justified Hamas’ October 7 attacks as an “inevitable” response to Israeli policies and frequently belittles concerns about rising global antisemitism.
Recently, after mobs in Amsterdam attacked Israeli soccer fans amid chants of a “Jew hunt,” Piker dismissed claims of antisemitism, blaming those who raised the issue for stoking more hostility.
When pressed by CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan about his rhetoric, Piker dismissed accusations of antisemitism, asserting, “Of course not. The real problem here is that I’m an anti-Zionist,” a distinction he has often used to deflect criticism of his statements.
“I am not going to be one of those people that says, like, ‘Oh, they’re settlers. They deserve the violence. They deserve getting shot in the street.’ No, nobody deserves that,” Piker said of the Israeli victims. He then described Hamas’ October 7 attack as “inevitable,” attributing it to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.
Piker has also consistently downplayed concerns about antisemitism, suggesting that accusations of antisemitism are used to divert attention from Israel’s actions in Gaza. During an October CNN town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris, Piker streamed his reaction to Harris’ comments. When a voter asked how she would address rising antisemitism on U.S. campuses, Piker mocked the questioner and ridiculed Harris’ response.
* The Jewish Insider contributed to this article.
