The Twitch streamer Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker is known for his critical stance towards the excesses of turbo-capitalism. But he is also a privileged Twitch streamer who enjoys indulging himself, most recently with a Porsche Taycan for over €180,000: He can only laugh at the criticism. He is not a socialist Jesus.
Who is HasanAbi?
- Hasan Piker is an American with Turkish roots. He streams practically daily on Twitch: On average, 28,000 people watch him, making him one of the top 50 on Twitch.
- HasanAbi is not a typical gaming streamer but sees himself as a political commentator. He frequently expresses his views on current events and politics. During major U.S. elections, his channel receives a significant influx of viewers, where he is seen as an alternative to news channels for the Twitch generation and acts as a political explainer, clearly advocating for a specific political stance.
- HasanAbi is politically left and progressive. He aligns himself with politicians like Bernie Sanders. Hasan Piker advocates for unions, healthcare for all, restrictions on gun rights, and demands more rights for the LGBTQ+ community. He is critical of super-rich individuals like Jeff Bezos.
Staff editor announces purchase in ironic video
This is the ongoing controversy: Despite his leftist views, HasanAbi often makes large purchases that are financially far beyond what an average earner can afford.
He first drew attention to himself in August 2021, when he bought a villa for $2.7 million. He justified the purchase with the absurdly high real estate prices that prevail in Los Angeles. He also needs a house for his family.
Socialism could hardly mean that he should not be allowed to buy a house, he tweeted at that time.
This is what he is doing now: HasanAbi has treated himself to a Porsche Taycan for around $200,000. His editor had fun staging the purchase in a video.
HasanAbi appeared like a hip-hop star, treating himself to his “dream car.”
HasanAbi had apparently fallen in love with the Porsche as early as May 2021, when he went car shopping with other Twitch streamers like Mizkif, Sodapoppin, and Esfand at a luxury car dealership (via YouTube).
What kind of car has he gotten himself? Given the price range, it’s likely a “Porsche Taycan Turbo S” or one of its variants:
- The vehicle accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds
- It has 761 horsepower
- A top speed of 260 km/h.
- In doing so, the electric sports car consumes 28.5 kWh per 100 km, but has a CO2 emissions of 0.
- The range is approximately 400 kilometers.
According to Porsche Germany, the car starts at €183,336, including VAT.
Car comes from “socialist country” Germany
This is being discussed: The purchase is already viewed critically:
- One user says: “It will never stop being incredibly funny that the biggest socialist streamer is such an unbelievably materialistic person. What a clown!”
- Other users say: This is now real satire.
- One user explains: Well, Porsche is a German car. And Germany is a “socialist country”, so America cannot get enough of these “sexy socialist cars”
HasanAbi of course streamed the purchase live on his Twitch channel:
“Stop calling me a socialist Jesus”
This is what HasanAbi says: He mocks the criticism. He says he was already expecting this criticism.
No one would see him as some kind of “socialist Jesus.” He is a Twitch streamer who explains to people why they are probably angry.
His content is available for free everywhere. He even allows people to make money through their fan channels, but some choose to give him money. Eventually, people will stop being angry at him.
People have the idea that his audience gives him their last cent, instead of buying bread for their families, while he tells them they should finance Kalashnikovs for the revolution in Idaho. And then people would be angry at his “imaginary fans”.
From his fans’ perspective, HasanAbi is incredibly successful and can afford to treat himself. There’s nothing wrong with that.
HasanAbi also seems to see no conflict in arguing for a good cause while driving a car that costs as much as five years’ salary for others. Somehow, for HasanAbi, everything is always a bit ironic, placing him alongside Twitch streamers like xQc.
Streamer is incredibly successful, believes someone at Twitch is sabotaging him
