Coverage spread: 2 sources — 2 right
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Both outlets draw on the same new Rolling Stone magazine profile of Hasan Piker.
- Both confirm Piker stands by his statement that Hamas is ‘a thousand times better’ than Israel, calling it intentionally provocative.
- Both note Piker made favorable comments about China during a November 2025 trip, including praising Mao Zedong.
- Both report Piker’s mother, Sedef Piker, saying she does not share her son’s enthusiasm for China.
Where they differ
- Fox News centers its story on Piker’s Hamas-Israel remarks and his political influence within the Democratic Party ahead of midterms.
- The New York Post centers its story on the China/Mao praise and the contrast with Piker’s harsh comments about the U.S., including his 9/11 remark.
- Fox News includes outside criticism (Mark Halperin calling him a ‘horrible person’) and mentions a canceled university lecture, details absent from the Post’s piece.
- The Post includes lighter, personal material from his mother’s interview, such as her relief over him no longer posting shirtless photos, which Fox News omits.
A new Rolling Stone magazine profile of left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker has drawn fresh attention to two of his most controversial positions: his admiring comments about communist China and Mao Zedong, and his repeated claim that Hamas is “a thousand times better” than Israel. In the same profile, Piker’s mother, Sedef Piker, said she does not share her son’s affection for China, while Piker himself defended his rhetoric as deliberately provocative.
What did Hasan Piker actually say about China?
During a two-week trip to China in November 2025, the 35-year-old streamer called the country “f—ing sick” on a livestream, praising what he described as the combination of “abundance-style consumption” with a “centrally controlled economy” that has produced major development. He pointed to the mix of “1950s Soviet-era building blocks” sitting next to a Gucci store as an example of a system that matched his own sensibilities. He also called Mao Zedong “one of the great leaders of this world,” crediting him with changing “the entire universe, the entire planet” — despite Mao’s rule being tied to the starvation deaths of millions. Piker went further, saying that “in my heart, in my soul, in my mind, in my conscience,” he had “already become Chinese.”
What did his mother say?
Sedef Piker, an architectural historian, told Rolling Stone she is “not in love with China like he is.” She also said she worries about her son’s online behavior, describing the internet as “a very savage place” and saying she wishes he would tone down the joking. On a lighter note, she said she’s relieved he has stopped posting shirtless bathroom photos, joking that the family has “moved from naked pictures to suits.”
What is the Hamas-Israel comment he’s standing by?
Piker reaffirmed a January comment, made in a post on X, that Hamas is “a thousand times better than the fascist settler colonial apartheid state” of Israel. Speaking to Rolling Stone, he acknowledged the statement was “intentionally provocative,” saying he wants to “force people to really think” and to “challenge them.” He said he is not focused on defending Hamas’s actions — “I’ve called out their war crimes myself” — but is instead trying to get people to understand, from a Palestinian perspective, “why someone becomes Hamas” after what he called 75 years of occupation. He also referenced an April appearance on “Pod Save America,” where he told host Jon Favreau he considers himself a “lesser-evil” or “harm-reduction voter” and would choose Hamas over Israel “every single time” under that framework.
How does he defend the provocation?
Piker told Rolling Stone that his public persona involves performance by design: “existence is a performance,” he said, arguing that speaking in “sanitized, academic language” wouldn’t reach as many people or be as entertaining. He suggested backlash to his comments stemmed from him “having the correct position too early,” and pointed to Rolling Stone’s own reporting that Democratic Party members surveyed rated the Israeli government only three points more favorably than Hamas, which he used to argue his views are closer to the party’s base than critics suggest.
Why is this getting attention now?
Piker has built a large following as a progressive streamer and has become an increasingly visible figure in Democratic-aligned online media, which is part of why outlets are scrutinizing his past statements as the midterm elections approach. Fox News frames the story around his growing influence within the Democratic Party and features commentary from Mark Halperin, who has called Piker a “horrible person,” as well as a note that a university lecture of his was canceled amid free-speech concerns. The New York Post frames its coverage around the contrast between his praise for China and his sharply critical remarks about the United States, including his past comment that “America deserved 9/11” and a statement suggesting it “doesn’t matter” whether rapes occurred during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people.
What hasn’t been resolved?
Piker has not walked back any of the statements covered in the profile; both outlets describe him as standing by his remarks rather than clarifying or apologizing for them. Fox News notes it reached out to Piker for comment beyond the Rolling Stone interview, without indicating a response. Neither outlet reports any organized response from Democratic Party officials distancing themselves from him beyond the general political pressure Fox News describes.
Sources
Featured photo: Morgan.rice.bassline.design via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)