{"id":48093,"date":"2026-05-07T11:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48093"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:40:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:40:55","slug":"the-left-wing-streamer-muscling-his-way-into-california-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/the-left-wing-streamer-muscling-his-way-into-california-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"The left-wing streamer muscling his way into California politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hasan Piker has met with Tom Steyer and shared a meal with Saikat Chakrabarti<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Streamer Hasan Piker, left, shows his phone on a live Twitch stream as producer Mauricio Miranda films during a campaign event for Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/AP<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Anabel Sosa<\/a><\/strong>, Senior California politics reporter<\/em> May 6, 2026 (SFGate.com)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasan Piker, a controversial streamer who has become nationally recognized for his political commentary and high-profile interviews on the livestreaming platform Twitch<\/a>, is now entering the California political arena<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piker has a boy-next-door appeal: He\u2019s a casual-spoken, 34-year-old millennial who was born in suburban New Jersey and raised in Istanbul. He graduated from Rutgers University and started his career as a commentator on the populist left-wing streaming show \u201cThe Young Turks.\u201d He\u2019s gone on to become one of the most influential online political voices for teenagers and members of Generation Z through Twitch, where he has acquired millions of subscribers, and he now has a visible presence on the campaign trail as progressives across the country place bets in the primaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Piker made a splash while making public appearances with Democratic Senate<\/a> candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. He also attended a \u201cTax the Rich\u201d rally with Bernie Sanders in March and separately spoke with Rep. Ro Khanna on his show. Khanna received criticism over it but argued Democrats should engage<\/a> with political influencers to help win future races. Piker is what some are calling a \u201cmidterm surrogate<\/a>\u201d and is sparking outrage from Democrats like Sen. Brad Schneider from Illinois, who said he is concerned<\/a> about Piker\u2019s anti-Israel stance and said Democrats are losing credibility. There is a long trail of criticism that continues to follow Piker<\/a> wherever he goes, but he has remained unfazed, calling the attention<\/a> from the Illinois senator \u201cvery flattering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piker is anti-imperialist and pro-welfare and has become popular for his criticisms of the Democratic playbook, particularly after the 2024 presidential election. He has been considered the progressive version of podcaster Joe Rogan and was once even<\/a> called a \u201cgateway drug\u201d to the left. Indeed, he has also made comments \u2014 some now retracted \u2014 that raise questions about his political views. That includes statements like \u201cAmerica deserved 9\/11,\u201d that Hamas is \u201c1,000 times better than Israel\u201d and that the fall of the Soviet Union was \u201cone of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that he has upset Republicans and Democrats in Washington, who accuse him of antisemitism and being pro-terrorism, along with posing harm to the future of the Democratic Party, could be the very thing that keeps viewers listening: His political commentary has no limits and ranges from vocal criticism of Israel to domestic politics where he challenges establishment Democrats and Republicans. While his beliefs have often been received with skepticism, there is no denying that Piker has sustained steady footing in the political zeitgeist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, he is focusing on California, where he has lived since 2021. Piker spoke in March with Saikat Chakrabarti, the progressive-leaning candidate seeking to absorb Rep. Nancy Pelosi\u2019s seat. Piker is returning this week to rally beside Chakrabarti, a centimillionaire and former Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez staffer, and former New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a signal of his political relevance and power, as the primaries are just a month away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, Piker met with Tom Steyer, a billionaire and one of the leading Democrats in the California governor\u2019s race. It may seem risky to bring a divisive voice like Piker into a campaign so late in the game, but Steyer understands Piker\u2019s influence. A representative for Steyer\u2019s campaign wrote to SFGATE in an email that the candidate joined Piker on Twitch as \u201cpart of an effort to reach younger audiences and meet voters where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile they don\u2019t agree on every issue, Tom believes leadership requires showing up, listening, and engaging Californians in every corner of our state,\u201d they said. Piker and Steyer discussed lowering electricity costs via Steyer\u2019s vision to dismantle PG&E. They also talked about the billionaire wealth tax, which Steyer supports, and why capitalism has failed Americans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the interview, Piker sang Steyer\u2019s praises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer in conversation with Hasan Piker on his show in April 2026.Screenshot via YouTube<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe I\u2019m saying this, but I think he\u2019s the most interesting candidate with viability right now,\u201d Piker told Mother Jones<\/a>. He went on to say Steyer is \u201cprobably a little more responsive than the rest of the candidates are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Chakrabarti, he first earned his fortune as a founding engineer for Stripe. After leaving Silicon Valley, he went on to volunteer for Sanders and later became the chief of staff for AOC, who has avoided chiming in<\/a> on the race. He is rumored to have been fired; however, in an April 2025 interview<\/a> with SFGATE, Chakrabarti said he always planned for the role to be temporary, and his wife\u2019s pregnancy was a reason for his departure. After those stints, and before he decided to run for Pelosi\u2019s seat last spring<\/a>, he ran a nonprofit group called Justice Democrats that helped elect progressive candidates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chakrabarti, who is only a little behind<\/a> leading Democrat Sen. Scott Wiener in the polls, and ahead of San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, is placing his bets on Piker. The pair are going to be speaking together at a rally this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Piker, who has gotten millions of young people interested in politics, was an intentional add-on to his campaign, even in the eleventh hour. He said Democrats risk losing reelection if they don\u2019t engage with figures like Piker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the 2024 election, we saw many disaffected young voters end up voting for Trump. Many of them did so because they see a current political and economic system that\u2019s failing them, and Trump promised change,\u201d Chakrabarti said in a text statement to SFGATE. \u201cIf we want to win young people back, we need to be willing to engage with them on the platforms where they\u2019re paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piker previously had dinner with Chakrabarti, which was posted on YouTube<\/a> in mid-April. They talked about how to win voters over, why voters want to oust mainstream Democrats, and how voters might actually want a \u201cBernie-crat\u201d like Chakrabarti in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe has really, really solid politics,\u201d Piker told Mother Jones. \u201c… What I have realized \u2026 is that all of those guys that we\u2019re voting for on the Democratic Party side, the establishment Democrats, they represent the interests of billionaires and millionaires regardless, even if they themselves are not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A year ago, Chakrabarti entered the race with little to no name recognition for the average California voter. Even Steyer has needed to make a name for himself this campaign season. And that\u2019s considering he ran an eight-month-long presidential campaign and came in third in the South Carolina primary<\/a>, only to suspend his campaign.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But through their multimillion-dollar self-funded campaigns, they each have used their fortunes to get their names out. Steyer went from polling at 1% at the start of his run last fall to now being a leading Democratic<\/a> candidate, along with former state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has only recently risen in polls. Chakrabarti might need some more help, as he trails in the polls behind Wiener<\/a>, who has been a state senator for a decade and already has powerful endorsements behind him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, with an influential voice like Piker in their corner, it could help get them the support they\u2019re looking for. And while it\u2019s unclear if Piker will aid or hinder Chakrabarti\u2019s and Steyer\u2019s campaigns, it will almost certainly give them the exposure they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Politics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Newsom scores early win in his $787M lawsuit against Fox News<\/a>
\u2014 Gen Z students are embracing the ‘Kirk doctrine’ on Calif. campuses<\/a>
\u2014 2 contentious measures in California move toward 2026 ballot<\/a>
\u2014 California town ‘blindsided’ by mayor\u2019s rogue tourism app<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 6, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anabel Sosa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior California politics reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anabel Sosa is the senior California politics reporter at SFGATE. She previously covered the statehouse and elections for the Los Angeles Times. She has a masters degree in investigative journalism from UC Berkeley. You can reach her at anabel.sosa@sfgate.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hasan Piker has met with Tom Steyer and shared a meal with Saikat Chakrabarti Streamer Hasan Piker, left, shows his phone on a live Twitch stream as producer Mauricio Miranda films during a campaign event for Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan,… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48093"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48093"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48098,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48093\/revisions\/48098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}