Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, known as HasanAbi, went live on March 20, 2025, in Las Vegas at the first stop of Senator Bernie Sanders’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Minutes before they were set to speak on the main stage, Piker interviewed key speaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders himself.
The almost ten-minute interview touched upon the tour’s purpose, which, according to Ocasio-Cortez, is “to rally a class-conscious movement… to show that we can fight for a better future not in marginalizing and attacking… but in rejecting differences… to come together in common cause.” Sanders provides his impetus for going on tour, highlighting the U.S.’s economic disparities. He appeals to a non-partisan approach, stating, “What is, I would hope… upsetting to all Americans no matter what their politics may be… is you’ve got a president who is moving us very rapidly into an authoritarian form of society.”
Later in the interview, Piker questions Sanders on the state of partisan politics, asking if he thinks there’s a bigger opportunity now for future candidates to succeed as independents. While Sanders admits that America’s duopolist party system still harbors a plethora of limitations, I think the biggest takeaway from a tour like this is a refreshing acknowledgment of a hard truth — with the way things are now, something has got to change.
Piker is one such representation of a shift in America’s political landscape. Political commentary and news reporting were once limited to esteemed, trusted outlets with the means to publish newspapers and disseminate information via their platforms. The advent of social media, specifically sites like Twitch, which offers users access to live video (much like any TV news station), has granted the public a whole new playing field to reach the ears of millions worldwide.
Piker became known on Twitch and other platforms for his left-leaning political content. He also became known for playing video games. This duplicity, like Piker’s content, is something the internet has just gotten used to. Not even ten years ago, content creation more strictly revolved around entertainment rather than information. YouTubers and Twitch streamers are gaining popularity through “Just Chatting” streams, prank videos, and video games. Recently, audiences have become much more aware of the politics of their favorite influencers. I think it’s no coincidence that this phenomenon coincides with another change about ten years ago: Donald Trump’s first election as President of the United States.
In November 2016, I was thirteen years old. While social media was beginning to arrive at my fingertips, I had been consuming online content on YouTube for much of my adolescence. The morning Trump’s election was confirmed, I woke to an onslaught of my favorite creators in outrage at the election results. Never before had I been concerned with the politics of Smosh, iiSuperwomanii, and the like. I’d never been concerned with politics before. Trump’s first term in office was not the most ideal of social awakenings, but it happens to all of us at one point or another. If it hadn’t been for the content creators telling me otherwise, I probably would be buying into the Fox News blaring on the TV at home to this day.
In November last year, I turned on Piker’s stream to watch him live for his election coverage. I spent the evening glued to his research and commentary. Live on my feed, liberals on X cried out, “How can this be? How does this even happen?” And amidst all my frustration, Piker didn’t miss a beat.
He referenced the Democrats’ neglect of acknowledging the working class. He said what I, and lots of people, had been thinking: the Democratic party set Kamala Harris up for failure, making her a throw-in candidate at the last minute, entertaining Biden for far longer than they should have. At that moment, I realized that I liked Piker for the same reasons Trump supporters like Trump. He’s brazen, bold. He’s unafraid to speak his mind. A leftist far from the pitfalls of neoliberal identity games, Piker acknowledges that the problems plaguing us all are not just about individual rights but the well-being of the collective populace. Who cares where you’re from, who you love, what you look like? Not when there’s rent to pay. Not when there’s a table in need of food, children in need of an education, or grandparents in need of care.
My generation is the first to grow up with the Internet in every phase of our lives. We grew up with the advent of social media, YouTube, and streaming sites. We grew up with the political sphere shifting toward celebrity. Perhaps this is why, instead of gravitating toward traditional news outlets, which have all been called “biased” and “fake” for years, I listen to someone who seems to be laying himself and his opinions out as they are. No filter.
As a true “Zoomer,” I do get some of my news from social media “superstars.” In terms of fitting this esteemed label, Piker is also well known for getting caught up in online controversy, like any proper influencer should. On March 25, Elon Musk himself took to slandering Piker over allegations of “terrorist-platforming” by putting a spotlight on Palestinian voices, calling him a “fraud.” Referencing the video game in the original post, Piker responded to Musk with, “this b*tch literally paid someone to powerlevel his character in poe2 lmao. wym i’m a fraud? elon i challenge you to a duel in elden ring. i will cook your fat rolling a**.”
This, people, is the new face of leftist politics. This is what “fighting oligarchy” looks like in the modern age: accusing the richest man in the world of paying someone to beat his video games for him. And honestly, it makes me kind of hopeful.