Hasan Piker Markets the Chinese Communist Party to His Millions of Followers

Hasan Piker is normally an impulsive, off-the-cuff speaker. He has to be, given that he livestreams his political commentary every day for upwards of six hours. But when the topic turns to China, Piker becomes stilted. “Why are you being so carefully footed on this?” asked Ethan Klein, Piker’s former co-host on the “Leftovers” podcast, after Piker danced around his position on whether Taiwan is “China or not China.”  Piker has amassed 3 million followers on the livestreaming platform Twitch for sharing his leftist political commentary. With the drawling, swaggering vocal cadence of a Los Angeles fratboy and the charisma to match, he has been touted as the Joe Rogan of the left and an alternative political role model for disaffected young men.  Piker’s politics are broadly leftist, and specifically socialist. He is anti-Israel and a critic of Trump, focusing his recent livestreams on the Epstein files. This month, he brought his livestream to China. “China is dark woke,” Piker said on November 14, his fifth day in the country. “That’s when you’re woke but a little mean.” Piker is travelling to Hong Kong today after 10 days in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Chengdu. His daily rhythm in China shows
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