Hasan Piker harbors deep envy for Charlie Kirk. The hard-left influencer debated Kirk in 2017 and was scheduled to do so again before Kirk’s murder last year.
Yet now, Piker has turned to mocking Kirk’s assassination, leading a crowd last weekend during his live podcast tour with an AI-generated song singalong: “We Are Charlie Kirk.” “We are Charlie Kirk, we carry the flame. We’ll fight for the Gospel, we’ll honor his name,” Piker sang off-key, while the crowd howled along and his co-hosts guffawed in the air.
This mockery is not directed at a political opponent: Kirk has been dead nearly a year.
Why target him with such derision?
Piker knows his audience seeks not thoughtful politics but a hatefest. Readers of George Orwell’s “1984” might recall the dystopian regime’s “Two Minutes Hate” events to incite hostility against enemies. Piker has surpassed this, offering more than an hour of hatred in his podcast and live events—and no one stirs his crowd into frenzy like Charlie Kirk.
The slain Turning Point USA founder embodies what they oppose—not merely as a successful conservative organizer who won young Americans away from socialism on campuses where he spoke—places where he ultimately died for his beliefs. Kirk’s faith, devotion to family, and happiness enraged his enemies. His self-sacrifice did too, and most importantly: Kirk understood the risks of speaking truths the left refused to hear—and was determined to prevent others from hearing.
Yet Kirk acted fearlessly, putting his life on the line for his convictions.
This is what Piker’s followers despise most: Charlie Kirk demonstrated how much better a human being could be.
Piker knew exactly how enthusiastic his mockery would provoke. He could count on Kirk’s memory to incite a jeering frenzy.
Yet there is more at play with Piker himself. Kirk was the man Piker can never become, and as evidenced by audience reactions, Kirk remains important—even to his enemies—in ways Piker cannot.
People deeply care about Charlie Kirk’s legacy, whether they cherish or resent it. Piker, who broadcasts his existence for up to eight hours daily on Twitch, craves the attention Kirk still commands even after death—and among his enemies.
Piker is not simply trying: he has resorted to animal cruelty, seemingly shocking his dog with an electric collar on camera to gain views. (Piker denies the collar was electric; he claims it was vibrate-only and the dog yelped due to other reasons.)
The firebrand leftist influencer gains notice within the Democratic Party, though Democrats are growing uneasy about Piker’s influence. Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Democrats’ U.S. Senate nominee, has felt embarrassed by his primary appearances with Piker and now states that “Nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople.” Yet this is far from disavowing Piker outright, even after he threatened: “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action—not against the state of Israel, mind you—but against American Jews.”
Piker has also stated that “America deserved 9/11,” a remark El-Sayed had to downplay on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month. When asked if he would say such a statement was dumb, El-Sayed admitted it.
El-Sayed is not alone among Democrats who have campaigned with Piker and welcomed his support. The Piker audience aligns with Democratic voters, and the party seeks his backing—even if candidates avoid taking responsibility for what Piker and his followers believe.
The spectacle of this dynamic plays out openly: on Twitch streams and live stages.
Hasan Piker stands in stark contrast to Charlie Kirk: rather than engaging in reasoned discourse with those who disagree, he trades on resentment, vitriol, and the lethal reality of political violence.
