Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker

Hasan Doğan Piker (born July 25, 1991) is an American political commentator, streamer, and YouTuber. He is best known for his political commentary on the progressive news network The Young Turks and for his Twitch streaming channel, where he discusses pop politics, news headlines, and popular culture. Piker has gained a large following for his outspoken views on progressive politics and social issues.

Early life and education

Hasan Piker was born on July 25, 1991, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to wealthy Turkish parents. He spent his early years in Turkey before moving back to the United States for college. Piker attended Rutgers University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and communication.

Career

The Young Turks

Piker began his career as an intern at The Young Turks in 2014. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a producer and on-air contributor. Piker gained prominence for his "Bro Tips" show, a dating advice show.

Twitch streaming

In 2018, Piker started streaming on Twitch, where he discusses pop politics, news headlines, and popular culture. His Twitch channel, "hasanabi," has amassed a large following, making him one of the most popular political streamers on the platform. Piker's streams often feature discussions with journalists and content creators.

On stream appearances with Destiny WIP

Destiny reacts to a Politicon panel featuring Hasan and Charlie Kirk. Hasan and Destiny discuss the following day

Destiny reacting to a politicon panel featuring Hasan and Charlie Kirk.

Destiny's reaction to the Politicon Panel

On October 20, 2018 Destiny reacted to a Politicon panel featuring featuring Hasan and Charlie Kirk. The primary focus of the panel was: "Whether young people should be progressives, conservatives, or perhaps something else". Destiny was mildly impressed by certain aspects of Hasan's debate performance. He appreciated Hasan's ability to challenge and critique various points, particularly in the context of discussing systemic issues and the limitations of free-market solutions. He also recognized the difficulty Hasan faced in addressing complex topics such as healthcare, education, and wealth distribution, in the face of a practiced "Gish-Galloper" such as Charlie Kirk. He did however offer a few critiques:

• Destiny suggested that Hasan could benefit from incorporating more 'scummy tactics' used in live debates, implying a need for more strategic interjections and rebuttals tailored to the format, especially facing an individual such as Charlie Kirk.
• Destiny indicated that Hasan could improve in how he handles the framing set by his opponents, particularly in redirecting or countering their narratives more effectively.

Highlights from Destiny's reaction include:

• 6:18 Highlighting a critical talking point missed by Hasan, Destiny counters an argument put forth by Charlie Kirk that "it's a good thing more individuals are off food-stamps". Destiny maintains that such an indicator is a poor barometer for the success of a nation, and that other indicators such as level of education, access to food stamps, access to healthcare, housing, and luxury goods are far better indicators of success.
• 7:43 Hasan agrees with Charlie Kirk that "we should reject socialism". Destiny pauses the video, and argues that Hasan agreeing with Kirk in this instance makes him look very weak.
• 27:37 When discussing the socialization of medical systems, Kirk mentions Lasik eye surgery and argues that the existence of insurance makes healthcare far more expensive. Realizing Kirk is regurgitating talking points from a video Destiny himself had once fallen victim to during his more right-leaning years, Destiny pulls up the video and proceeds to mock Kirk for not understanding the "elasticity" of certain services.
• 45:38 Charlie Kirk remarks that the most poor and destitute cities are owned by Democrats. Destiny pauses the video, laughs mockingly, and states that Kirk has every "fucking meme talking point". Shortly after resuming the video, Destiny pauses it once more to point out that the gish-gallop is destroying Hasan, and he cannot allow Kirk to ramble on.
• 1:05:01 After Kirk interrupts Hasan and asks for a moment to speak, Destiny remarks that he feels like Kirk has spoken quite a bit more than Hasan during this panel.
• 1:14:08 After being pushed by Kirk, Hasan shares that he only makes $60,000 a year. Hasan's uncle, Cenk Uygur, proceeds to shout at Kirk from the crowd.

Discussion with Hasan WIP

On October 21, 2018 Destiny and Hasan had a three and a half hour long discussion regarding Hasan's recent debate experience at Politicon. The conversation begins with Destiny explaining to Hasan that he did not necessarily dislike the points he attempted to convey to Kirk, but was critical of his attempts to get those points across. Hasan agreed with this sentiment, and pointed to Kirk's tactics of outright lying, Gish Galloping, moving the goalposts, and crafting messages for "applause breaks" as being very frustrating to deal with. Destiny sympathised with this, agreeing that the debate tactics employed by Kirk are very hard to deal with in real time, particularly in a live format. From there, the two discussed tactics Hasan could have employed better in the debate, their grievances with modern day conservatives, and the best methods in reaching out to a "broader" audience.

Destiny offered the following pieces of advice to Hasan:

• Dealing with Gish Galloping 10:19 : Destiny tells Hasan the best way to counter a debate opponent Gish Galloping, particularly in a live format, is to pose them questions at the end which every member of the audience would be able to identify with. Destiny goes on to provide the example of Bernie Sanders hammering home the same three talking points (1% getting richer, jobs suck, lack of affordability of healthcare). Destiny then pointedly suggests that Hasan could have posed questions like this on the back end of every one of Kirk's monologues, and that Kirk would come out looking worse for it.
• Holding Opponents Accountable 16:56: Destiny encourages Hasan to firmly challenge Kirk's controversial statements, like those suggesting Democratic policies lead to violence in Chicago.
• Refraining from Communist-like rhetoric 47:44: Hasan references a communist individual in his community, who advised him to point his arguments more towards a criticism of capitalism. Destiny tells Hasan to never listen to individuals like this. Destiny goes on to advise Hasan to take on more "nazi-rhetoric" in that he should present his ideas as "positive-things" for the benefit of the country. He compares this against communist rhetoric that tends to include phrases such as "eat the rich".
• Handling leading questions in a debate 1:42:1: Destiny informs Hasan that "whenever someone asks you a question, the reason why they're doing that is because they know what answer you're going to give, so they've already got the response prepared. Anytime you're in a debate with somebody, if they ask you a question that seems very obvious...you have to know that if you answer... they're ready to go into it."
• Neoliberalism 2:19:27: Hasan and Destiny discuss Neoliberalism. Hasan states Neoliberalism has a more "hawkish" perspective, and fails to acknowledge the failures of free market. Destiny cautions Hasan against this perspective, and jokingly suggests he already has seven Neoliberals already typing him up emails suggesting the contrary. Destiny states he has no strong stance one way or the other, but points out there are Neoliberals that seem okay and some that seem quite extreme. Hasan then jokingly suggests that "Neoliberals love getting owned", and cautions Destiny against calling himself one.
• Using Free-Market arguments against Conservatives 2:47:07: Destiny provides Hasan a "silver-fucking-bullet" to conservative hypocrisy. He points to how Conservatives tend to state the free-market will solve everything, then how these same individuals will complain when they're banned from social media platforms.
• The stock market as an indicator for prosperity 2:06:13: At one point, Hasan attempts to provide Destiny with a talking point he claims to have never seen Destiny make with regards to the stock market not being a good indicator for prosperity. Destiny, acknowledges this, and finishes Hasan's point stating: "oh yeah, because the average American doesn't hold a lot of securities." Destiny goes on to point to a debate with Jacob Wohl, where he made this exact argument.

Discussion Highlights

2:58 Hasan informs Destiny that he watches his debates all the time and welcomes any criticism from him , regardless how harsh it may be. 10:19 Destiny advises Hasan on how to counter a Gish Gallop. 16:56 Destiny suggests to Hasan that he should have held Kirk's "feet to the fire" in certain instances where he said some "real dumb shit". Destiny cited instances such as Kirk suggesting Democrat policies were causing black people to be killed in Chicago. 20:14 Lamenting how Conservatives mock Socialists for suggesting true socialism has never existed, Hasan suggests that these individuals do the same with regards to capitalism. Destiny takes issue with this, and suggests that he would actually "push back here really hard, because I am a liberal". Destiny goes on to argue that when he has to argue in favor of liberalism/capitalism, it's very hard to argue as he must defend his very real/flaw system against an ideal. Destiny then provides Hasan various strategies he could utilize to better advocate his proposed socialist system. 31:51 In response to an argument from Kirk that Hasan should give up 95% of his salary if he's a socialist, Hasan admits he has no clue how to respond. Destiny provides Hasan some argumentative suggestions, one of which highlights the great personal harm one would incur should they give up the majority of their income to the IRS, with little benefit to society. 37:08 Hasan criticizes the tendency of the left to be quick to label individuals as Nazis. The conversation continues and Destiny later remarks that Hasan is "an intelligent guy" and suggests that he should engage in more debates with individuals he encounters online to sharpen his debate skills. 43:01 Hasan asks Destiny what specific points he should be working on in order to improve his debate skills. Destiny advises Hasan that the issue was not so much his points, but his rhetoric. 47:44 Hasan references a communist individual in his community, who advised him to point his arguments more towards a criticism of capitalism. Destiny tells Hasan to never listen to individuals like this, and Hasan jokingly agrees. Destiny goes on to advise Hasan to take on more "nazi-rhetoric" in that he should present his ideas as "positive-things" for the benefit of the country. He compares this against communist rhetoric that tends to include phrases such as "eat the rich". 1:03:19 Hasan claims: "in the 66 minute debate, Charlie interrupted me 76 times". 1:14:52 Destiny suggests Hasan counters Kirk's comparisons of the United States to Cuba with "why are we comparing ourselves to nations like Cuba". 1:39:42 Destiny warns Hasan about arguing against Citizens United 1:42:1 Destiny informs Hasan that "whenever someone asks you a question, the reason why they're doing that is because they know what answer you're going to give, so they've already got the response prepared. Anytime you're in a debate with somebody, if they ask you a question that seems very obvious...you have to know that if you answer... they're ready to go into it." 1:56:25 Destiny points to Hasan how Kirk tends to end his points on very strong statements. 1:57:20 Hasan claims socialism is not his position, and that his counters to Kirk's points are rooted in Social Democracy. 2:11:34 Hasan exclaims that he'd like to kill Charlie Kirk. 2:18:24 Destiny informs Hasan how schools receive funding. 2:19:27 Hasan and Destiny discuss Neoliberalism. 2:21:33 Hasan and Destiny mock the conservative argument of "just move". 2:41:18 Destiny advises Hasan how to best approach arguments against lobbying. 2:44:24 Destiny restates an argument regarding federal non-discretionary funding Hasan attempted to make to Kirk. Hasan acknowledges that he made the same point but Destiny stated it more eloquently. 2:47:07 Destiny provides Hasan a free-market argument to use against conservatives. 2:49:28 Hasan informs Destiny "this argument is also for you... I never hear you mention this" with regards to the stock market not being a good indicator for success. Destiny, does in fact acknowledge this, and once again succinctly finishes Hasan's point by stating "oh yeah, because the average American doesn't hold a lot of securities." 2:57:30 Hasan admits he's not the best debater.

Destiny has a Pre-Debate debate with Hasan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9iPLU3fAFA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJbZ080ThkE

Hasan's Richard Lewis Debate - Post-debate Debate with Hasan Piker WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7wtmabgQU8

There's something you value more than democracy... ft. Hasan Piker & H.Bomberguy WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyOnBYaLFwY

I F#%*ING HATE BREAKING NEWS FT. HASAN PIKER WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FcDO7jYQQ8

I DIDN'T KNOW I GRABBED THE MAGNUM XXXL'S Destiny and Hasan IRL WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4V1zrh0W4A

Streamer Drama ft. Hasanabi, Vaush, Marty & RemTheBathBoi WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjszEJBKWRs

How will Article 13 change YouTube and Twitch? ft. Hasanabi WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPtdhXmRgCo

Hasan and Destiny debate abortion WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZOr-ruA_XM

I don't really know if you're pretending or not... ft. HasanAbi & Emmia WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stdrVr9BHkE

Hasanabi And Destiny BREAK UP Over Kamala Misinformation WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLfAuWe3xho

Hasanabi And Destiny BREAK UP Aftermath WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCsvkP_sVQw

Controversies

Throughout his career, Piker has been involved in several controversies, often stemming from his outspoken political views. In 2019, he faced backlash for comments made during a Twitch stream about the September 11 attacks and brave Mujahideen fighters fucking the eye hole of U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw. Piker later apologized for the remarks, stating that they were "inappropriate and offensive."

During the run of Hasan's show "Bro Tips", hosted on The Young Turks, he made a number of controversial comments in which he accused Lady Gaga of having a penis, and gave viewers instructions on how to isolate women from their friends, then coerce them into sexual intercourse. ^{[citation needed ]}

"It's time to get out of here and it's time to separate her from her herd, meaning her crowd of girlfriends who are going to do their best to cockblock you because they're fat and ulgy." - Hasan 'The Brofessor' Piker ^{[citation needed ]}

"Brotip: If you stand in front of the door, she can't leave." - Hasan 'The Brofessor' Piker ^{[citation needed ]}

"Remember, old enough to count, old enough to mount." - Hasan 'The Brofessor' Piker ^{[citation needed ]}

Controversial quotes

• Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
• “I paved it on my own”
• "I live on a basic necessity budget"
• "Twitch leak"

External Links

• Twitch
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Instagram
• TikTok