Hasan Piker on his rise as a voice of the ‘insurgent left’

President Donald Trump recently called Hasan Piker a “terrible liability” and a “communist.” The California-based streamer — who describes himself as a socialist — has become the GOP’s political bogeyman ahead of the midterm elections. Piker argues those attacks will backfire, but also says he has played a role in being portrayed as a 'figurehead of the insurgent left.' “The way that I'm portrayed in the media is an America-hating communist Islamist fundamentalist who wants to secretly do jihad, and then also, at the same time, very woke and gay, so there's this weird inconsistency in their messaging,” Piker says. “Who I am is very simple. I'm a socialist. I'm an anti-imperialist. I want what's best for Americans, and I want what's best for everyone from all around the world.” In this episode from NPR’s Newsmakers, Piker sits down with host Leila Fadel and argues Republicans are using him to distract from policies that made life less affordable. He also addresses his seven Twitch bans, defends his rhetoric against right-wing reactionaries, and reflects on the crisis of loneliness among young men — and the limits of his influence. “At the end of the day, I'm a Twitch streamer,” Piker says. “I hold no political office. I have no real political power. So getting people to be upset at a Twitch streamer and their affiliation as a, if you want to call it a surrogate, in the primary is going to be very difficult.” Newsmakers is where you'll find NPR's biggest interviews. We post new episodes as soon as they're available — any day of the week. Follow or subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you watch or listen to podcasts to get new episodes as soon as possible. You can also find Newsmakers on the NPR app.  Newsmakers relies on supporters who value independent journalism and a free press. Join NPR+ today to support our work and get perks from the podcasts you trust. Go to plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy