Twitch streamer Hasan Piker defended his use of terms like “inbred” and “Zionist pig” against political opponents during a lengthy interview with NPR aired Thursday.
NPR host Leila Fadel pressed Piker on whether the backlash he has faced stems from his inflammatory language or from the fact that his “name is Hasan.” Piker said he believes much of the criticism he receives has more to do with his background than his rhetoric.
“Of course, I, you know, say incendiary things, but it’s not reflected on in the same way when someone who’s White, Christian, born and raised in America is saying incendiary things,” Piker said.
Fadel then asked why someone who says he has felt “dehumanized” himself would use dehumanizing language toward others, including Jewish critics.
“When you hear people say, ‘Why would you use dehumanizing language like inbred for some ultra-Orthodox Jews or Zionist pig?’ What do you say to them as somebody who has felt that as well?” Fadel asked.
“So, great question. I have a policy to be ruthless to those who are bullying others, to be ruthless to those who abide by certain ideologies that are conducting great harm,” Piker responded.
“As far as the language that I deploy that is considered dehumanizing like ‘inbred,’ it’s one that I use quite commonly as a pejorative towards right-wing reactionary ideology, ethno-supremacist ideology, neo-Nazi ideology, because I find it to be an apt pejorative to deploy considering that these supremacist ideologies oftentimes revolve around ethnic purity, racial purity. It’s not, of course, meant to be taken seriously.”
Piker said he applies the same reasoning to the word “pig,” insisting he uses similar language “across the board” regardless of a target’s background.
“It gets heated at times,” he said. “I’m a passionate guy. I get angry. I have to, you know, explain my frustration, communicate my frustration somehow. Very different format than we have here, obviously.”
“But, you know, I think that a lot of people feel this way,” he continued. “A lot of people get very frustrated. It’s never directed at someone for their actual background. It’s usually their actions or their belief system. And almost all the time, it’s their reactionary belief system that causes me to call them a pig or inbred or something like that.”
Jewish group condemns remarks
The Israeli-American Council condemned Piker’s comments in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“The Jewish people know what happens when hatred becomes acceptable. Throughout history, pogroms and persecution were fueled by lies that portrayed Jews as less than human. The Holocaust showed the world where the systematic dehumanization of Jews can lead.”
The group added: “On October 7, 2023, Hamas perpetrated mass murder, mass rape, mass torture, and mass hostage taking in the deadliest massacre of our people since the Holocaust. For us, the consequences of antisemitic hatred are not an abstract debate.”
Fox News Digital said it reached out to Piker for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
In January, Piker was suspended from Twitch for seven days after using the phrase “Zionist pig,” and he has repeatedly criticized Zionism and Israel. Although he has campaigned alongside several Democratic candidates, some party figures distanced themselves from him in August after he warned American Jews they could face violence if they continued to support Israel.
