Do we like Hasan Piker?
Our score: 4 out of 10. Mixed on both tests: a record of arguing for trans people, set against his Hamas remarks and the accusations that he downplays sexual violence.
Piker is a 35-year-old Twitch streamer born in New Jersey, with about 3 million followers on the platform and roughly 14 million monthly viewers. He describes himself as a democratic socialist with longstanding ties to the Democratic Socialists of America. In 2026 he has become a kingmaker of sorts, endorsing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Wisconsin governor candidate Francesca Hong.
The moment that still follows him is from 2019, when he was on Twitch mocking Rep. Dan Crenshaw's war injury. He said “America deserved 9/11, dude”, then clarified that he meant America, not Americans. He later called his remarks inappropriate and said he should have used better language. Seven years on, it keeps getting thrown at him and the politicians who appear with him.
The bigger problem is Israel and Gaza. The Washington Examiner reported in August that he said he would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time and called Hamas “a thousand times better” than Israel. It also reported that he refused to back away from the comments, and that he has been accused of downplaying sexual violence in the October 7 attack. Centrist Democrats have pushed back hard. Where you land depends on whether you read it as blunt anti-war politics or as excusing a group that harmed civilians.
On the harm test, there is a real split. On trans people, he argued on stream in 2025 that Kamala Harris conceding ground to anti-trans narratives had “legitimized the claims of your opponent”. That is a fight with Democrats over how to defend trans people, not an attack on them. On women, the sourced record is the accusation about October 7. Nothing turned up on climate or migrants, and he appears alongside Democratic figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has joined his streams.
The legal fights are fresh. Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch USA, filed a Florida civil suit alleging Piker's streams incited violence against pro-Israel Jews and seeking over $150 million. The article carried no response from Piker, and it was filed, not decided. Piker is suing Scott Jennings for defamation, alleging a doctored clip was used to claim he urged lynchings of Black voters. The complaint quotes his 2024 line “Can we go back to a better time when lynchings were happening?” as mockery of a conservative commentator. The article carried no response from Jennings.
The good stuff is harder to pin down from what could be opened. He reaches a young audience that Democrats have struggled to find, and Ocasio-Cortez told ABC News that appearing on his streams was part of building a winning coalition. His fundraising streams have been reported, but those pages could not be opened and dated here, so they are left out. The verified record of kindness is thinner than the record of controversy.