Twitch Star Hasan Piker: ‘Capitalist Way of Life’ Contributed to Charlie Kirk Shooting
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Left-wing Twitch star Hasan Piker, who was set to debate Charlie Kirk later this month, said the murder of the popular conservative influencer and organizer signaled a “breakdown in our social order” that has been accelerated by capitalism and a 24/7 news cycle that fuels “stressed-out gun owners.”
Piker made his argument in a guest column for The New York Times on Saturday.
“Violence almost never originates in a vacuum, and the killing of a high-profile political content creator — regardless of why it happened — speaks to a breakdown in our social order,” Piker said.
He then went on to outline several factors that he believed set the foundation for a political assassination like this to take place.
“The social challenges include rising rents and homelessness, the destruction caused by climate change, titanic levels of inequality, and too many others to name here. Our capitalist way of life — always accumulating, never evening out — leaves more and more people to deal with these problems on their own,” Piker said.
He continued: “This produces feelings of isolation and resentment as material conditions worsen. And considering that our society is swamped by and yet somehow stitched together by a 24/7 news cycle that too often feeds this resentment, it is little wonder that a country of stressed-out gun owners would have so many grim, needless gun deaths.”
Piker, in his column, did not say whether he believes Kirk’s views on topics like transgenderism led to him being the victim of political violence. He did say that President Donald Trump, whom Kirk supported, “frequently takes advantage of people’s resentments and redirects them toward vulnerable communities.” Piker then argued Kirk was “an expert” at doing the same thing.
Earlier, Piker acknowledged Kirk was a victim of the “rising tide of political violence,” but his NYT column does not mention the words “liberal,” “left,” or “leftist” and does not argue that Kirk was targeted for his conservative views.
One casing found by investigators was scrawled with the phrase “hey fascist! CATCH!” and on Saturday, reporters for Fox News and the New York Post reported Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspected assassin, was living with his trans partner at the time of the murder.
Piker’s column was published less than two weeks before he was set to debate Kirk at Dartmouth College on Sept. 25.
The popular streamer, who has 4.6 million subscribers between Twitch and YouTube, has been in the news a fair amount lately. Earlier this week, he accused former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of “leaning on Islamophobia,” after Cuomo showcased pictures of NYC mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani (D) hanging out with Piker; the streamer has previously said America “deserved” 9/11 — a quote Cuomo’s team included in its pictures of Mamdani and Piker.
