Who Is Hasan Piker – The Political Commentator and Twitch Streamer?

Hasan Piker, aka HasanAbi, is a well-known Turkish American left-wing political commentator, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber who became popular for serving as the host of The Breakdown on The Young Turks network. 

With so much happening in the political scene globally, political commentators are springing up everywhere, discussing and analyzing political issues. Some of these commentators have been able to distinguish themselves in a special way from others in the field, thereby earning more fame and followership.

Hasan Piker who is one of these notable political commentators can boast of a wide range of followers on Twitch and YouTube. Let’s dig into the profile of this eloquent commentator and Twitch streamer in this piece.

Biography and Profile Summary

Hasan Piker at a Glance

Early Life

Hasan Dogan Piker was born on July 25, 1991, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved back to Istanbul, Turkey where he was raised. He was enrolled in different Turkish schools for both his elementary and high school education. The names and exact location of these schools are not available to us at this time except the fact that they are situated in Turkey.

After completing high school, Piker got admitted into the University of Miami, forcing him to move back to the United States. Following his poor performance, the political commentator transferred to Rutgers University located in New Jersey. While at Rutgers, Picker was a full-fledged member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity group and he performed excellently well this time around in his studies. Hasan graduated with a distinction, as well as obtained dual degrees in Communications and Political Science.

In 2013, the budding commentator secured an internship position at The Young Turks Network which was created by Dave Koller, Ben Mankiewicz and Cenk Uygur. Hasan Picker was stationed at the advertising unit of the channel but from there, he went on to work his way up to earning a permanent position at the news network. His work was based mainly on the social media platforms operated by the channel where he, amongst other things, produced explainer videos for the news channel.

His Career As A Political Commentator

Piker’s career as a political commentator kicked off when he started appearing on shows hosted on TYT’s social media platforms. He quickly distinguished himself on the shows he appeared as properly articulated and analyzed the political topics put up for discussion diligently. It was reported that the subscriber base of TYT’s YouTube channel grew by 4% following the launch of Piker’s program.

The outspoken commentator, who is widely viewed as a partial socialist and full-blown progressive, debates on issues which are largely centred on social democratic reforms and his dislike for America’s involvement in wars and coups globally. Hassan attributes his greatest political influences to be Karl Marx, Yanis Varoufakis, Richard Wolff and Noam Chomsky.

What Does Hasan Piker Do On Twitch?

As a Twitch streamer, Piker operates a Twitch account where he regularly uploads videos and does live streaming. The central theme of most of his videos bothers on politics and political events across the United States. Hassan Piker also does live streams of himself playing video games and trying out a variety of memes.

Sometime in 2018, Hasan Piker, in one of his live streams, called out Dan Crenshaw, a military veteran serving as a Republican in the U.S House of Representatives. He criticized him heavily on his opposition to support the United States arms sale to Saudi Arabia. This view was not welcomed by the public as Hasan got a lot of media bashing and public outrage. He later apologized, claiming his views were wrongly understood.

Another incident that got the political commentator under fire was when he mentioned that ‘…If I were a gay commentator and found conservative male pundits attractive, I’d ask Tucker Carlson on a date…”. This comment started rumours about Hasan being gay, although the speculation died down when it was settled that the commentator only used it as a way of illustration.

In spite of all these controversies plaguing his career, the internet sensation still boasts a massive following on Twitch and it is known that one of his videos that went viral polled over 20 million views. Hasan Piker also features on TooFab, Buzzfeed and he has worked with religious and social groups like Black Lives Matter, March For Our Lives and Muslims For Progressive Values, amongst several others.