'''Hasan Piker''' (born July 25, 1991) is a Turkish-American<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2016/07/turkey-military-coup-ataturk-erdogan-islamism|title=The Wrong Answer|website=jacobinmag.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref> [[Twitch (service)|Twitch]] streamer and political commentator at [[The Young Turks]].
== Early life and education ==
Hasan Piker was born in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick]], [[New Jersey]], but grew up with his parents in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://politicon.com/speaker/hasan-piker/|title=Hasan Piker|website=Politicon|access-date=2019-07-25}}</ref> Piker was educated in [[Turkey]], and after two semesters at the [[University of Miami]] at which he earned a 2.9 GPA, he transferred to [[Rutgers University]] graduating ''cum laude'' with a dual degree in [[political science]] and [[communication]]s.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a18198474/hasan-piker-young-turks-woke-bae-interview/|title="Woke Bae" Hasan Piker Wants Your F*cking Attention|last=Smothers|first=Hannah|date=2018-02-20|website=Cosmopolitan|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-25}}</ref>
== Career ==
Piker is the nephew of [[Cenk Uygur]], the creator and co-host of the online show [[The Young Turks]]. Piker began working at The Young Turks in 2013 as an intern, and later got a full-time job there.<ref name=":3" /> He worked with TYT's social media platform for some time, and later appeared as an on-screen commentator. Piker is known for producing "explainer" videos for the channel. He is now the host of ''The Breakdown'', and appears on the main show for roundtable discussions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://legacy.tyt.com/about/host-bios/hasan-piker/|title=Hasan Piker|website=TYT Network|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-25}}</ref>
In the summer of 2018, Piker started streaming regularly on [[Twitch (service)|Twitch]]. On his stream, he spends most of his time talking about [[politics]], playing [[video game]]s and engaging with different [[meme]]s. He has said that he finds Twitch a platform that can be used to change minds, and that leftist representation is needed to counteract the online presence of the far right.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://kotaku.com/socialist-twitch-streamer-says-hes-changing-minds-1834899434|title=Socialist Twitch Streamer Says He's Changing Minds|journal=Kotaku|first=Gita|last=Jackson|date=5 May 2019|access-date=6 February 2020}}</ref>
== Political views ==
Hasan Piker considers himself a progressive with [[Socialism|socialist]] leanings. He advocates for [[Social democracy|social democratic]] reforms in the U.S., and for workers' ownership of the [[means of production]]. He is a critic of the United States involvement in coups and wars around the world. He has cited [[Noam Chomsky]], [[Karl Marx]], [[Richard D. Wolff|Richard Wolff]] and [[Yanis Varoufakis]] as influences on his ideology.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} He is an ardent supporter of [[Bernie Sanders]].
== Controversies ==
On one stream,{{which|date=November 2019}} Piker questioned why Republican Representative [[Dan Crenshaw]] was opposing [[116th United States Congress|House]] efforts to stop [[2017 United States–Saudi Arabia arms deal|arms shipments]] to [[Saudi Arabia]]. Piker drew outrage by suggesting that Crenshaw—who lost his right eye in 2012 to an [[improvised explosive device]] explosion while serving as a [[Navy SEAL]] during the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan War]]—had lost his eye "because some [[Mujahideen]], a brave fucking soldier, fucked his eyehole with their dick".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediaite.com/news/tyt-host-hasan-piker-mocks-dan-crenshaws-war-injury-brave-fcking-soldier-fcked-his-eye-hole/|title=TYT Contributor Goes off about Dan Crenshaw in Furious Tirade|last=Morgan|first=Phillips|date=22 August 2019|website=Mediate|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref><ref name="dot">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/hasan-piker-twitch-controversy-dan-crenshaw/|title=How a socialist Twitch streamer's comments on 9/11 landed him in a feud with Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw and right-wing Twitter|last=Martinez|first=Ignatio|date=24 August 2019|website=The Daily Dot|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref> Piker later claimed that the remarks were intended to be satirical.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/hasan-piker-dan-crenshaw|title=Hasan Piker calls his Crenshaw remarks 'satire'|first=Joseph|last=Wulfsohn|date=August 23, 2019|website=Fox News}}</ref>
Piker drew further outrage on the same stream by stating that "America deserved [[9/11]]".<ref name="kotaku">{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/twitch-suspends-popular-leftist-streamer-after-controve-1837518859|title=Twitch Suspends Popular Leftist Streamer After Controversial 9/11 Comments|last=Grayson|first=Nathan|date=25 August 2019|website=Kotaku|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref> The comment resulted in Piker's Twitch account being temporarily suspended.<ref name=kotaku /> Piker later elaborated on his beliefs on The Young Turks network, expressing regret about his remarks, which he claimed were articulated poorly because of English being his second language, despite having native fluency in the language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailywire.com/news/young-turks-hasan-piker-addresses-controversies-amanda-prestigiacomo|title=Young Turks’ Hasan Piker Addresses Controversies: ‘You Could Chalk It Up To English Being My Second Language’|last=Prestigiacomo|first=Amanda|date=24 August 2019|website=The Daily Wire|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/twitch-suspends-popular-leftist-streamer-after-controve-1837518859|title=Twitch Suspends Popular Leftist Streamer After Controversial 9/11 Comments|website=Kotaku|language=en-us|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Twitch|HasanAbi}}
{{TYT Network}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piker, Hasan}}
[[Category:1991 births]]
[[Category:American online journalists]]
[[Category:American people of Turkish descent]]
[[Category:American political commentators]]
[[Category:The Young Turks people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from New Brunswick, New Jersey]]