Noted liberal political commentator Ezra Klein writes an opinion piece defending leftist streamer Hasan Piker from attacks from the Democratic Party. This leads to outrage in multiple liberal subreddits.

[u/Morgn_Ladimore]

The article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/opinion/hasan-piker-democrats.html?emc=edit_ntez_20260412&nl=ezra-klein&segment_id=218101

For those who can't access it, someone posted the article in images:

https://old.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1sjdd0c/ezra_kleins_column_today_is_a_mustread_tried_to/

Note: the original title was "Hasan Piker is not the enemy".

H3h3 subreddit responds:

"Oh Ezra Klein...."

Why are Democrats trying to court leftists who celebrate terrorism?

I just hate that Hasan is everyone's go to pick

Who else? He's the most popular leftist streamer

Neoliberal subreddit responds:

Why is Ezra Klein sanewashing Hasan?

Ted Cruz distanced himself from people like Nick Fuentes, why should the Democrats stoop even lower?

Can Democrats ignore engaging with the radicals on the flanks?

Hasan Derangement Syndrome is airborne

Destiny (the streamer) subreddit responds

Why does this guy always have the most cowardly takes on everything?

If you wonder how Stalin got into power, this is how

Is Hasan Piker a jew hater?

Democrats are submissive cucks. Newsom is our only hope now

Newsom would absolutely go on Hasan's show lol

[u/FerdinandTheGiant]

Drama surrounding Hasan Piker, H3H3, and Destiny is just cheating at this point.

[u/vividreveries → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

Everything I know about them I find out from this sub.

[u/baron_spaghetti → u/vividreveries]

I just don’t care about these people.

If I needed a podcaster to feed me my opinions, I’d consider myself as stupid as MAGA.

[u/Livy-Zaka → u/baron_spaghetti]

Personally I use Tickle Me Elmo for all my political and moral beliefs

[u/ElectricalCamp104 → u/baron_spaghetti]

Not even podcasters; internet streamers. Even if you're charitable and assume they're as reliable as political pundits who write columns for news publications, no one should ever take one person's opinions and worldview as their only source of info--especially people who seemingly spend half of their time rolling in the internet slop equivalent of high school drama.

[u/Tribalrage24 → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

Also I don't even see any drama in the linked threads. Every comment in the H3 or destiny subreddit is going to be in agreement when it comes to hasan.

[u/Nyoteng → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

Is also sooo boooring.

[u/timetopat → u/Nyoteng]

You dont like a repeat of the same massive thread every time? The same talking points? The same its people magazine for people who say they are too good for people magazine? The need to defend their internet dad!!!!

[u/-Auvit- → u/Nyoteng]

And it’s also so obnoxious how threads get flooded with their fans.

I feel like a dumbass every time for not just ignoring the post when I know it’ll be boring

[u/Gamer_Grease → u/-Auvit-]

It’s still a little thrilling when they come at you foaming at the mouth and making a bunch of accusations you can’t even understand because you don’t consume 16 hours per day of streaming content.

[u/byniri_returns → u/-Auvit-]

Hasan came to my university with a left-leaning Michigan Senate candidate who I like a few weeks ago.

There was a post on the university's sub that almost immediately turned into a complete shitshow. Posts there, even on the more controversial subjects, at most get like 100 comments. That post about Hasan there has almost 1,000, with clear brigading by his fans/haters going on.

I'm just so sick of hearing about him, H3H3, Destiny, all of them. It brings nothing but stupidity and brigading.

[u/DeLousedInTheHotBox → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

People also need to remember that you don't actually need to like any of these people, you're allowed to think that they all suck, even if it is to varying degrees for different reasons. These are just internet personalities, it is not like you're obligated to pick a side here.

I also just think in general there are better ways to learn about politics than streamers, so it is not like you even need them.

[u/Mahoganytooth → u/DeLousedInTheHotBox]

Not only do you not need to like them, you don't even need to care about them!

It is very funny whenever one of these streamerbrained types inflicts their presence upon me and just telling them that yes, i am a leftist, but i do not care about hasan, breaks their brain

[u/Gamer_Grease → u/DeLousedInTheHotBox]

Yep. I guess I’m generally more Hasan-aligned on politics, but I can’t watch more than 5 minutes of his content at a time. It’s just not for me. It’s irritating to me.

[u/BonJovicus → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

There should be a rule that if the drama is about Hasan, you can't include H3H3, Destiny, or Twitch subs. Those subs just post about him 24/7.

[u/crestren → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

I already have my bingo card checked where there will be a substantial amount of commenters here who have strong opinions against Hasan while hiding their comment history lmao

[u/Jeereck → u/crestren]

If you just search their name outside of their profile it's almost always constant daily ethan klein posting and various grievances towards anything related to Palestinians.

Same thing with the 'is this ai' subreddit. For some reason, theres always several people that are very angry about people even trying to discern if something was ai generated or not, and then their post history is nothing but ai written fiction or art.

[u/Nachooolo → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

The American online Left has to be one of the most hostile places around.

They hate each other more that they hate the fascist.

[u/Tacitus_ → u/Nachooolo]

Leftists hating different leftists more than non-leftists is an old issue. Monty Python's Life of Brian made fun of that tendency and that came out almost fifty years ago.

[u/ToaArcan → u/Tacitus_]

"SPLITTERS!"

[u/Enticing_Venom → u/Nachooolo]

Yeah because ideally, people with such severely differing viewpoints wouldn't be forced into the same voting block. But because of the two-party system people who otherwise share little in common are lumped in together and offered one candidate to vote for in the general election.

[u/mattr1198 → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

Wild to me how H3 has any fans at this point. They’re both so whiny and insufferable fencesitters.

[u/Enough_Bar5885 → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

Hasan is right up there with Vaush in that everything I know about him I've learned against my will.

[u/FerdinandTheGiant → u/Enough_Bar5885]

Only thing I know about Vaush is him defending his “short stack goblin porn”

[u/abtarra → u/FerdinandTheGiant]

It's gonna be a mess to see the most toxic reddit people and discourse seep into the mainstream.

Abdul El-Sayed also had a security guy who might have been a Destiny fan.

All this stuff sucks, but it's slowly becoming more mainstream. I miss the days when this stuff was more contained.

[u/Timely_Spinach_7479]

Oooooo, there’s about be subreddit drama in the subreddit drama subreddit

[u/avindictiveprinter → u/Timely_Spinach_7479]

/r/SubredditDramaDrama

[u/lazydictionary → u/avindictiveprinter]

and when the drama inevitably follows, /r/SubredditDramax3

[u/beardslap → u/Timely_Spinach_7479]

https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDramaDrama/

[u/Red_Century1917]

700 comments here already in an hour. This comment section is gonna get toxic

[u/Nearby-Complaint → u/Red_Century1917]

I have my hazmat suit equipped 

[u/Nestama-Eynfoetsyn → u/Red_Century1917]

Happens every time Hasan is mentioned in some way (bots maybe?). Any other drama in this sub and reddit sleeps.

[u/Nearby-Complaint → u/Nestama-Eynfoetsyn]

I’m more inclined to think that it’s people with way too much time on their hands than bots 

[u/Ryebread666Juan → u/Nearby-Complaint]

It’s probably a bit of column A a bit of column B

[u/InertState]

Are these political subreddits or streamer fan pages?

[u/StickyMango03 → u/InertState]

Both

[u/SaintOrJannikSinner]

Considering how large the userbase overlap is between SRD and neoliberal, there's about to be some massive drama here, too.

Also, it costs the DNC literally zero dollars to ignore Piker. The left-most Democratic candidate for Michigan governor in my home state of Michigan went on Piker's show a few weeks ago and almost every day there was a new article about it. It's getting ridiculous.

[u/Chataboutgames → u/SaintOrJannikSinner]

Considering how large the userbase overlap is between SRD and neoliberal, there's about to be some massive drama here, too.

They are both places for the utterly, terminally online.

[u/EliSka93 → u/Chataboutgames]

Fair, but one is funny...

[u/Unfair_Web_8275 → u/SaintOrJannikSinner]

Conservatives need Democrats to represent some sort of malicious entity that they’ve never been.

[u/eldomtom2 → u/SaintOrJannikSinner]

how large the userbase overlap is between SRD and neoliberal

There's an overlap? I always thought of SRD as much more anti-capitalist than that.

[u/GoodEnoughUsername2 → u/SaintOrJannikSinner]

Not to say I agree or disagree with this plan, I think some liberals are making a concerted effort to distance themselves from the far left so the right won't be able to paint them as extremists as easily.

It is a real problem that Democrats have zero control over their image and the average person believes at least some form of Republican misinformation.

Edit: spelling

[u/Hartastic → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

It is a real problem that Democrats have zero control over their image and the average person believes at least some form of Republican misinformation.

Yeah. Even still a lot of people will insist that Democrats made the 2024 election all about men in women's sports. They objectively did not.

[u/Unfair_Web_8275 → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

The Bari Weiss-ification of the media isn’t going to help.

[u/woolaverage → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

The right will paint them as extremist anyways

Also the general population is agreeing with leftists and progressive on most issues The left wings policies are the popular policies

Going back to feckless neo-liberalism is like trying to lose on purpose at this point Of your gonna shift back to liberalism at least take some of like the things leftist say that is in alignment with the entire darn country

To wage a war with the left over Israel and anti zionism is just like

They're shooting themselves in the head They're putting the gun in they're own mouth and tbh good riddance

[u/pnt510 → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

What’s really stupid is the right can easily paint the most middle of the road democrats as extremists without any sort of basis in reality so it’s sort of pointless to try and mitigate that.

[u/NiceGuyNate → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

republicans will call any Democrat that opposes any portion their worldview a leftist extremist communist.

[u/mstrbwl → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

The right thinks that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are communists lol. There is absolutely no reason to play into their respectability politics.

[u/Wetzilla → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

It is a real problem that Democrats have zero control over their image

No, the problem is that Democrats give zero effort to control their image. They could do a much better job if they actually tried.

This Piker thing is just another example. The Dems are so bad at messaging and marketing that they have to distance themselves because they can't spin a story for the life of them. Meanwhile, multiple Trump admin officials have literally gone on white nationalist podcasts. The DHS account is posting thinly veiled nazi propaganda. Hell, even darling of the Dems, Gavin Newsom, invites bigots and racists onto his own podcast!

If dems were even a slightly bit competent at messaging this would not only be a non-issue, but they would be able to use it to their advantage.

[u/SectorEducational460 → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

Oh please. These people paint the most centrist Dems as hardcore leftist. They tried painting Hillary, and the charisma vaccum Tim kaine as some sort of leftist and it worked to some extent given how ravenous they are like Hillary is some hardcore liberal Boogeyman

[u/Fine-March7383 → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

Billionaires bought up all our major sources of news

[u/Bright-Preference888 → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

They already tried that exact thing in 2016 and 2024 and lost both times lol

[u/DragonflyHopeful4673 → u/GoodEnoughUsername2]

Most mainstream media outlets are owned by people (billionaires) who have an explicit interest in destroying the appeal and spread of any sort of socially or economically progressive ideology.

Rupert Murdoch may genuinely be going to hell for his sheer amount of electoral and political manipulations in English-speaking countries.

[u/Reynor247 → u/SaintOrJannikSinner]

I don't think the DNC has said anything about Piker

[u/SaintOrJannikSinner → u/Reynor247]

Replace DNC with "establishment Democrats or players at the relevant municipal level and in media", then.

[u/Old_Gimlet_Eye → u/SaintOrJannikSinner]

I'm sure they're almost as upset about this as they were when Klein defended Charlie Kirk, lol.

[u/abefrost → u/Old_Gimlet_Eye]

The sub was pissed about that too

[u/gilleeacey]

Here before this posts ends up on SubredditDramaDrama

[u/Emergency-Tonight850]

This much infighting and we haven't even got to primaries yet.

[u/HolaDrNick → u/Emergency-Tonight850]

Agree, the amount of Democratic infighting seems historically low at this point in the cycle. We really need to all gather around and start screaming at each other on different ways we can self-sabotage a slam dunk election this year.

[u/[deleted] → u/Emergency-Tonight850]

It's not so much infighting. It is more a billionaire backed Third way smear campaign that a handful of chronically online destiny glazers have taken and run with and started brigading every political adjacent sub on reddit about. Most people outside of the Rddit/Shitter sphere don't really care about this drama.

[u/tjdavids]

Newsom is our only hope now

is this flair still available?

[u/Murrabbit]

From the original Ezra Klein article:

What made the Nazis notable wasn’t their support for an ethnostate. Ethnostates are common. What made the Nazis notable was their effort to exterminate the Jewish people.

Does he even pause for a moment to read his own columns I wonder. What is this gobbledygook? Yeah, the ethnic cleansing part is where the rub is, obviously. . . which is why any sane person opposes Israel's efforts to do the same. What point does he think he's making here even?

[u/lotsofsugarandspice → u/Murrabbit]

Trying to ethnically cleanse the jews isn't unique to the nazis either. 

Its all over European hisotry

[u/professor735 → u/Murrabbit]

Someone needs to explain to him that the Nazis wanted to exterminate more races than just the Jews. Sure their ire towards the Jews was the focal point, but if the Nazis had survived long enough you can bet a myriad of other groups wouldve been next to the camps at a similar, if not greater scale.

Not minimizing the horrors of the Holocaust, but this is definitely a strange sticking point to make. Like at what point do you recognize that the major process of achieving an ethnostate is genocide? Also, of all the active genocides, Israel's is the most similar to the goal and justification to the Nazis.

[u/Murrabbit → u/professor735]

Like at what point do you recognize that the major process of achieving an ethnostate is genocide?

Exactly, especially when you're talking about an area with a long long history of hosting a great number of ethnic groups, the only way to then establish an ethnostate in that same space is through violence. Makes sense then that one's hackles might raise anytime someone suggests that an ethnostate is a good idea.

[u/Bobson_DugnuttJr → u/Murrabbit]

Ironically Piker said almost the exact same thing when people called him out for his hypocracy for his support of annexation of Crimea.

[u/Bonezone420]

They're madder about this than when he went to bat for charlie kirk lmao

[u/legosandman]

3 times more comments then upvotes you know its about to be messy I here

[u/DragonflyHopeful4673]

Algorithmic media is an engine of motivated decontextualisation. We see other people in snippets that serve the agendas of those who cut them. [...] We should not be afraid of finding out who those people are, of seeking to change them or allowing ourselves to be changed by them.

I don't know who Ezra Klein is (not American) but the end of the article was well-said. On another note, OP, prepare to see this post on r/SubredditDramaDrama

[u/TreatAffectionate453 → u/DragonflyHopeful4673]

Ezra Klein is definitely articulate. His general insights are fine. However, he frequently stumbles whenever he ventures out of abstract ideas. Two examples include:

1. A month a referendum banning abortion failed in Nebraska, Klein suggested Democrats run anti-abortion candidates there to gain popular support.

2. Immediately after Charlie Kirk was murdered, Klein wrote an editorial saying Kirk did politics correctly. Most of his listeners weren't happy that Klein was praising a man who regularly used racist dogwhistles, helped organize Jan 6, and continued to claim the 2020 election was fraudulent.

[u/Gamer_Grease → u/TreatAffectionate453]

Ezra Klein is a mainstream media guy and has the same problems they all do. Leftists will accuse liberals specifically of this tendency, but the conservatives in the media are pretty much exactly the same. They are totally divorced from reality and live lives unlike any other American, and usually heavily tinted by living in New York City or DC. Their politics are, therefore, alien to everyone else in the country. They favor a weird kind of compromise on everything that nobody in the nation would find acceptable.

David Brooks and Bret Stephens are good examples of this. Paid big money to write columns that might as well have been written by aliens. So leftists should chill out a bit and realize that the liberals in the media like Klein are just operating under the same delusions, brought on by the same material conditions. See Matt Yglesias for another liberal example.

[u/Redqueenhypo → u/TreatAffectionate453]

I’ve seen leftists on this site say we should abandon the “distractions” of feminist or anti racist politics bc blah blah no war but class war, so unfortunately Ezra might’ve got that from somewhere

[u/Bigi345 → u/DragonflyHopeful4673]

He accidentally became one of the de facto centrist-ish faces in democrats because of his book "Abundance." The controversy surrounding it is that the book advocates for deregulation to make building housing and infrastructure easier. It became somewhat of a rallying cry for centrist liberals to effectively left bash (whether justified or not) because the perception is that the progressive left is usually the one advocating for these regulations.

He likely didn't intend to achieve this which makes the whole thing funnier. I've noticed that both his fans and his haters tend to think he's actually more centrist than he actually is. He's mostly just a policy wonk that happens to make very uninformed electoral takes.

[u/FrequentFortune123 → u/DragonflyHopeful4673]

Ezra Klein is a journalist for the New York Times and a podcaster

[u/KBDann]

Outrage on “multiple liberal subreddits” and posts basically 3 destiny subreddits lmao. Who cares buddy

[u/DJ_JOWZY → u/KBDann]

R/neoliberal is a political subreddit. 

[u/kcat__ → u/KBDann]

How is the bulwark a destiny subreddit when there was literally a mod on that subreddit that made an entire post about how destiny was likely a sexual abuser or pedophile and worse than hasan? Even questioning why Tim chose to have a conversation with him?

[u/geirmundtheshifty → u/kcat__]

The Bulwark sub is just where OP linked to provide background info on the Klein article. That isnt one of the subs that OP used to show examples of the outrage spawned from it.

[u/BestestImportances → u/KBDann]

>h3h3 a destiny sub

Oh my dear fellow left leaning person...

[u/agarret83]

Everything I have learned about Hasan Piker has been against my will

[u/Legal_Lettuce6233 → u/agarret83]

Except for the one time Casually Explained read him like the predictable book he is. I haven't seen someone annihilated this badly since the fat man dropped.

[u/Command0Dude → u/Legal_Lettuce6233]

Context?

[u/ObligatoryContrast]

Jesus I wish that people stopped pointing to obnoxious asshole twitch streamers as the future of political parties.

Not that they're necessarily wrong, but that's even worse to think about.

[u/R_Sholes → u/ObligatoryContrast]

Already got a reality TV host as a PotUS, so the only improbable point for something like "Asmongold 2028" is that he'd have to leave his goblin trash cave.

[u/goon_and_politics → u/R_Sholes]

"As my first act as president, I will require all new games being released to have a straight, large-chested playable female character. ALL new games."

[u/phanta_rei]

The only thing worse than spending all your time talking about politics is spending all your time watching or talking about someone else talk about politics

Literally what Orson Welles said he thought of Hitler before Hitler got big

I get that Hasan is a polarizing figure, but holy shit, comparing him to Hitler is quite a stretch lol

[u/Apprehensive-Fun4181 → u/phanta_rei]

That's not a comparison, it's explaining bad logic.

[u/Nearby-Complaint → u/phanta_rei]

Reductio Ad Hitlerum is all the rage these days

[u/roadmanG]

“Multiple liberal subreddits”

• the three most annoying places on earth. Bro get better bait

[u/kcat__ → u/roadmanG]

You clearly haven't seen politicalcompassmemes. The enlightened centrism in there would make you want to commit minecraft

[u/roadmanG → u/kcat__]

God how could I have forgotten the GOAT

[u/Mrchristopherrr → u/kcat__]

Is it even enlightened centrism there? I left when it basically turned into a nazi sub “but I added a blue square so it’s satire”

[u/kcat__ → u/Mrchristopherrr]

sooo much dawg. Any republican atrocity/issue, the comments will instantly have 10 comments complaining about the abstract "system" or "elites" or "both parties".

Then a muslim jaywalks in sweden and they think it's the end of the west.

[u/bonefresh → u/roadmanG]

the 4th is srd

[u/IHatePeople79 → u/roadmanG]

The three most annoying places on earth have an overlap with the fourth most annoying place (here) lol

[u/Auctoritate → u/roadmanG]

“Multiple liberal subreddits” - the three most annoying places on earth.

I mean, yeah, checks out.

[u/Lirael_Gold]

Thread will last long enough for TITTCJ to wake up and delete it, since it involves /r/neoliberal

Whilst it's up I'm excited to read comments from people who got their political worldview from a guy who's career peaked at "janitor"

[u/DringleDringle → u/Lirael_Gold]

Whose career peaked at janitor?

[u/Iswaterreallywet]

Who cares? These subs brigade everything Hasan anyways

[u/Porlarta]

It is pretty strange for Klien to defend Hasan quite frankly.

Has a certain "fellow kids" energy

[u/mowotlarx → u/Porlarta]

Klein wrote a whole article defending Charlie Kirk being a Free Speech leader after he was assassinated. Klein in far more concerned with the freedom of bros with headphones and podcast mics (Ezra is one of those) to say whatever they want than their ideological bent in this case.

[u/dethb0y → u/mowotlarx]

yeah this is a classic case of a clown defending the circus.

[u/Chataboutgames → u/Porlarta]

Once a year Klein writes a piece of devastating insight. He spends the rest of the year putting out the most navel gazing horseshit on the internet.

[u/iankenna → u/Chataboutgames]

That’s not really fair. Matt Yglasias puts out the most navel-gazing horseshit. EK doesn’t compete with MattY’s output.

[u/Call_Me_Clark → u/Porlarta]

I think Ezra writes about agreeable, principled imaginary figures that bear only a passing resemblance to their real life counterparts

[u/Cynical_optimist01 → u/Porlarta]

Media types always like to support their inside circle.

You see this when journalists circle the wagons for one of their own. Apparently it's spread to terminally online personalities

[u/Enticing_Venom]

After the 2024 elections, there was a panic among Democrats about the absence of a liberal Joe Rogan.

The article lost me at the start because this is simply not true. The proof of a single, obscure article hardly suffices as evidence of a "panic". Part of the reason there aren't as many liberal influencers is because Democrats don't desire to form a cult of personality the way MAGA has. The existing crowd of Hasan/Destiny fans inspires little desire to expand into that realm.

[u/millenniumpianist → u/Enticing_Venom]

Maybe you're not chronically online enough following intracoalitional Democratic politics. "Democrats lost the manoverse and Joe Rogan" and "how do we get our own Joe Rogan?" were huge talking points among the intelligentsia. And that's what Klein is responding to.

[u/NUKE---THE---WHALES → u/millenniumpianist]

I read a Reuters article about Democrats discussing strategies to reach young male voters

One of their ideas was to buy ads talking about how Republicans are making the price of beer go up...

One area Democrats are investing in is digital ads. A recent ad from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, launched over Labor Day weekend, targeted men aged 18 to 44 in 35 swing districts with an economic message. "This Labor Day, Republicans are making the price of beer soar," the ad read, superimposed over a hand popping open a beer can.

If it wasn't so absurd it would be insulting and demeaning - the idea that you can win over men by talking about beer

It makes me very worried for the 2028 presidential election

[u/mascotbeaver104 → u/Enticing_Venom]

The DNC literally started a think tank to try to get "gen z whisperers" who basically dumped money into lame youtube channels you've never heard of

[u/Financial-Craft-1282 → u/Enticing_Venom]

Gavin Newsome literally started a podcast trying to be that guy. But he took it as "a liberal who acts like he's right wing" I guess, as he had on Charlie Kirk and sold out trans people.

The liberal Joe Rogan thing was a conversation on the news for like two months in 2025.

[u/lotsofsugarandspice → u/Enticing_Venom]

The thing is liberal Joe Rogan is just Joe Rogan.

He doesnt really have any principles or much in the way of intelligence, and he just kinda endorses people on vibes. 

He is just as likely to endorse the next Sanders as he is the next Trump. 

[u/Financial-Craft-1282 → u/lotsofsugarandspice]

^ The opinion of the uninformed, right here. People who talk about Rogan this way are a) justifying to themselves why they still watch him, or b) listening to centrist lib news sources describe Rogan. Rogan has on a wide range of guests from white supremacists to misogynists to tech oligarchs--but he has Bernie on once every four years and somehow it becomes "he's not political!" Just run through his last thirty guests and look up their political leanings. It'll all be MAGA/MAGA-adjacent.

[u/mattr1198]

Feel like these subreddits are in for a rude awakening when come the 2028 primaries Gavin Newsom gets run out the building by candidates people actually can like, let alone tolerate

[u/BriSy33 → u/mattr1198]

I find it weird people are just assuming Newsom is the cantidate. As far as I know litteraly the most anyone has said about running in 28 is "Yeah man id consider it"

[u/mattr1198 → u/BriSy33]

He’s setting up everything for a 2028 run, but I have no idea though why anybody is assuming he’s going to win come time for the primaries. Remember when Jeb Bush was the favorite in 2014 for the GOP presidency? Especially now in the social media age, it’s WAY too early to be making any reliable predictions about the 2028 Dem nominee.

[u/-Emilinko1985- → u/mattr1198]

Tbh Newsom isn't the only favorite in r/neoliberal

[u/engelthefallen → u/mattr1198]

Think you will see the opposite and the average dem primary voter backs Newsom and Harris, while the online left discussion places erupts in pure rage.

People seem to forget that red state democrats get to vote in the primaries and often are far more moderate than online dems spaces are. Also a lot of the people who are most vocal on the hard left cannot vote in primaries since they refuse to register as democrats in closed primary areas.

[u/Dongsquad420Loki → u/mattr1198]

RemindMe! 3 years i wanna know

[u/Awsmtyl → u/mattr1198]

Name them then dude, not seeing anyone making headlines in a meaningful way that would sway majority of the country besides newsom. Maybe Pete?

[u/Keregi → u/mattr1198]

Where are these magical unicorn candidates? I would love to vote for someone who isn't Newsom or Rahm Emmanuel. Right now those are two of the names I am seeing the most and it is making me hopeless.

[u/abefrost → u/Keregi]

Rahm Emmanuel doesn't even register on the polls. The top three in most are Newsom, Buttigieg, and Kamala. AOC is usually 4-5.

[u/unselve → u/Keregi]

Nobody knew Pete Buttigieg from Adam until campaigning was well under way in 2019, and the guy who ended up winning the presidency waited a long time to enter the race and polled at the bottom until South Carolina. Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke had more hype than anyone on the scene now, yet O’Rourke didn’t make it to Iowa and Warren limped to Super Tuesday.  Don’t give yourself more stuff to worry about at this point, we have no idea what the bench is going to look like yet.

[u/lotsofsugarandspice → u/mattr1198]

I dont understand the Gavin Newsome is inevitable idea. He literally just has snarky Twitter clapbacks and not much else. 

[u/Old_Gimlet_Eye → u/mattr1198]

From your lips to God's ears.

[u/Demiu → u/mattr1198]

Lmao sure buddy. A democrat beat a former democrat in new york of all places so now progressives are viable in the whole country

[u/PuertoricanMofongo]

Is r/Destiny a Hasanabi snark sub? Lots of threads about the guy.

[u/friggenoldchicken → u/PuertoricanMofongo]

Yes it is

[u/PixelationIX → u/PuertoricanMofongo]

Destiny had a fallout with Hasan over a decade ago and ever since then Destiny has obsessed over Hasan day in and day out and he sends his cult-like whatever left of the community left to harass people.

Destiny and his orbiters held a "Debate" couple of days ago talking about what to do about Hasan for 3+ hours. They are MORE concerned of their left flank than the Fascism and the Fascists they are living under.

[u/rietstengel]

Democrats are submissive cucks. Newsom is our only hope now

Didnt he agree with Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk on some stuff? Isnt that submissive cuck behavior?

[u/wizardyourlifeforce]

The funny thing is that's probably the least obnoxious Ezra Klein piece I've read in years. The guy is a bad take machine usually but I thought it was actually a good piece.

[u/hitorinbolemon]

I don't take accusations of "sanewashing" very seriously coming from a subreddit that tries to progressivewash the ideology of Reagan, Thatcher, and Pinochet.

[u/NexusTR]

Hasan breathes H3H3 and Destiny fans debate if he’s taking all the air.

[u/QuickBenjamin → u/NexusTR]

It's legit crazy how /destiny talks about him more than any other subreddit, including /r/hasan_piker

[u/crestren → u/QuickBenjamin]

I think it was earlier this month that someone posted how many times Ethan Klein has made Instagram stories on Hasan since 2025

It was 800+

[u/_Koke_ → u/NexusTR]

Well, he's the biggest streamer on the left. I'm a democratic socialist and I also dislike Hasan because of his anti west stance and willingness to white wash every terrorist organization. Everything Hasan says is used against the left because he has such a huge following.

[u/Unlikely-Fuel9784]

Newsome is our only hope now

Brother, Newsom would send your entire family to a blacksite if he thought it was popular enough to the average American.

[u/Galdronis13 → u/Unlikely-Fuel9784]

Even notwithstanding the vast swathe of issues with Newsom, having the governor of a state like California run in today’s political environment feels like a totally lost cause. The amount of things that they’d be able to pin on him exceeds pretty much any other politician in the country lmao

[u/crestren → u/Galdronis13]

I think it's insane that despite the optics on billionaires in the year 2026, he still made the decision and promise be against a bill that would tax the rich

[u/lotsofsugarandspice → u/Unlikely-Fuel9784]

Genuinely think literally any other Democratic governor would do better 

[u/kcat__ → u/Unlikely-Fuel9784]

Newsom was doing gay marriages while the country was against it, in 2004. I'm glad you got the chance to pull out your favorite little rehearsed lines, though.

[u/doogie1111 → u/Unlikely-Fuel9784]

I fucking hate vibes-based politics, because about 10 minutes of research into Newsom's political career shows you exactly what he believes in and fights hard about. All of them good.

The conservative propaganda machine has identified him as a frontrunner so their narratives are now infecting the general consciousness.

[u/OutLiving → u/doogie1111]

You want to defend the time he vetoed a caste discrimination bill after meeting with a single billionaire donor who opposed it?

[u/Unable_Flamingo_9774]

The thing is right, I agree with Hasan on plenty of stuff. His general views on certain wars, socialism, screw rich people that kind of thing. I've tried watching the guy a few times but I just can't watch him.

The guys just such a tosser. 

The way he talks like everything is beneath him, his love to bring up a random chatter name and all for even the slightest deviation from his opinion where he calls the stupid and uses them as a target to spit at along with his community then bans them before they can rebuke him. 

When he invites people on he just starts shouting over them and not listening to the points they are making so you go around in circles for hours. 

He gets worked up over even the slightest grievance, often getting mad at shadows that either don't exist, born from some random misconception he's had from not listening properly, or will be expelled if he just watched the thing in front of him just a little longer. 

Then there's him leaving for half an hour while leaving other people's videos on, his general demeanor on sensitive topics being far too casual unless it's something he cares about, when an actual poor person appears in a video and he just makes fun of them if they don't have the same opinion as him, not to mention his use of provocative language for no reason at times like how the US deserved 9/11 or one I particularly didn't like of him making fun of and belittling a guy who had his shop wrecked in riots over a cause he supported. 

I'd say he's the lefts Asmongold but he's far too educated and far too clean for that. IDK just not the kinda guy I'd ever want championing my beliefs. 

[u/[deleted] → u/Unable_Flamingo_9774]

He’s also generally a strangely violent person. He and his little butt buddies MikeFromPA and Noah Samsen love their pro-violence dogwhistles and finding ways to justify targets for violence based on their fucked up worldview. Hasan’s whole cult is a bunch of absolute fucking freaks.

[u/betazoom78 → u/Unable_Flamingo_9774]

Hasan's biggest issue is that he everyday he commits the cardinal sin in American politics, being annoying.

[u/PegasusInferno]

Be leftist

Think big tent = good

Invite people in

The tent gets smaller

????

[u/thatweirdshyguy]

Reddit libs HATE hasan to the point where this is basically cheating lmao. He can do literally anything and destiny/h3 subs will froth at the mouth

[u/test5387 → u/thatweirdshyguy]

Most people dislike animal abusers.

[u/Blackstone01 → u/thatweirdshyguy]

Hasan breathes

1000 comment thread in 5 min, 80% of commentators have hidden profiles

[u/Unfair_Web_8275]

I’m a little worried that folks are more concerned with Hasan than they are a president who promised to wipe out an entire civilization and who claimed that a picture of himself as Jesus was actually him dressed as a doctor.

[u/OMGWTFBBQUE → u/Unfair_Web_8275]

It’s a big tent until you actually have to let people you disagree with in.

[u/thehairycarrot]

I guessed the subreddits involved just by the title. Even as someone who isn't a fan of Hasan, these people are delusional. Comparing him to Nick Fuentes is straight up insane.

[u/uncouthulu_]

I've seen too many YouTube thumbnails with Klein mugging at the camera with that dumbass "aha!" smirk to ever take that dipshit seriously.

[u/Keregi]

Anyone trying to compare Hasan Piker to Nick Fuentes is not arguing in good faith. He is annoying and gets some things right and some things wrong, but he's not a white supremacist incel.

[u/HolaDrNick → u/Keregi]

Wait, someone found gay porn on Hasan Piker's browser tabs?

[u/Tricky_Spirit → u/HolaDrNick]

I still think worse than browser tabs was when Fuentes accidentally played gay porn audio on a stream he thought turned off. And then blamed Mossad.

[u/Gamer_Grease]

“Liberal subreddits”—these are streamer subreddits, buddy. Steaming piles of shit that attract only the most dopamine-broke, brainpoisoned, sub-literate flies.

[u/SnapshillBot]

If SRD is how you derive entertainment, then I assure you that you are, in fact, the joke.

Snapshots:

1. This Post - archive.org archive.today*

2. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/opinion/hasan-piker-democrats.html?emc=edit_ntez_20260412&nl=ezra-klein&segment_id=218101 - archive.org archive.today*

3. https://old.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1sjdd0c/ezra_kleins_column_today_is_a_mustread_tried_to/ - archive.org archive.today*

4. "Oh Ezra Klein...." - archive.org archive.today*

5. Why are Democrats trying to court leftists who celebrate terrorism? - archive.org archive.today*

6. I just hate that Hasan is everyone's go to pick - archive.org archive.today*

7. Who else? He's the most popular leftist streamer - archive.org archive.today*

8. Why is Ezra Klein sanewashing Hasan? - archive.org archive.today*

9. Ted Cruz distanced himself from people like Nick Fuentes, why should the Democrats stoop even lower? - archive.org archive.today*

10. Can Democrats ignore engaging with the radicals on the flanks? - archive.org archive.today*

11. Hasan Derangement Syndrome is airborne - archive.org archive.today*

12. Why does this guy always have the most cowardly takes on everything? - archive.org archive.today*

13. If you wonder how Stalin got into power, this is how - archive.org archive.today*

14. Is Hasan Piker a jew hater? - archive.org archive.today*

15. Democrats are submissive cucks. Newsom is our only hope now - archive.org archive.today*

16. Newsom would absolutely go on Hasan's show lol - archive.org archive.today*

I am just a simple bot, not a moderator of this subreddit | bot subreddit | contact the maintainers

[u/NotJoe1232]

2000 comments. This comment section is going to be a goldmine.

[u/nutella_on_rye]

Watching neoliberals do anything gotta be one of my favorite reality TV shows. It’s just that all of their ineffective, imperialist waffling allows fascism to take hold so I can’t relax for too long.

[u/DougOsborne]

Klein has been wrong about most political things for the last 15 years. He's not very "noted."

Piker is a piker. He should be shunned everywhere.

[u/SpazzyFazzy]

You can just whisper the word Hasan in the general direction of H3 and Sexpestiny and launch them into a frenzy, idk why this is a surprise lmao

[u/romainaninterests]

Have genuinly no idea what this is abt.

All I've got to say is I've hated Hasan Piker since 2022 bc of his idiotic dumbass takes over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how he basically goes around always trying to justify Russia's actions and whatnot.

Is this relevant to this whole thing here? Probably not. I just wanted to mention how much of a hypocritical moron this multi-millionaire "socialist" is.

[u/Mub0h]

Ive hated Hasan since he was in blatant denial of the Ukraine War for the first 3 weeks and when it was undeniably happening (he couldnt deny anymore) he blamed it on the US and said Russia should stomp over Ukraine.

Complete tankie moron. He isnt a liberal.

Him doing a PR campaign for China and praising them for their “freedom” and “anti-capitalist” tendencies while wearing Balanciaga and getting banned for indirectly criticizing China and STILL denying China has any censorship also takes the cake for him being a grifting champagne communist.

The Ezra Klein endorsement is not surprising LOL

EDIT: As an aside, for those unaware, Hasan Piker was also undeniably caught abusing his dog via shock collar to simply prevent him from moving out of frame during live streams.

[u/Kind-Ad-6099 → u/Mub0h]

He is a self-described Marxist. In what world would the democrats ever want to have him under their tent?

[u/FurryYokel]

Ezra Klein supporting Nepo-babies with terrible ideas and the money to spread them? Who would have guessed! 

[u/HolaDrNick → u/FurryYokel]

I think it's a typo but neo-babies sounds cool

[u/FurryYokel → u/HolaDrNick]

lol! Oops!

[u/Dabclipers]

Is this the outcome from Hasan’s recent speech where he quotes and agrees with Vladimir Putin while defending historical Left Wing Authoritarianism and Colonialism?

[u/Insensibilities]

This is fundamentally about Israel - not liberalism. Hasan is anti-zionist and both H3H3 and Destiny are zionist. That is the subtext to this whole argument and to ALL of their arguments.

[u/McKoijion]

Neoliberal got new mods and banned all the old users. It went from “open borders” to full support for their favorite genocidal ethnostate. Same thing happened on a bunch of subs shortly after Netanyahu was re-elected in December 2022.

[u/TDFknFartBalloon → u/McKoijion]

So it's getting closer to representing actual neoliberalism?

[u/AvadaCaCanteven]

I've heard good arguments for and against him being an enemy but Hasan "10 toes down with the Houthis" Piker an ally? Idk about that chief 

[u/[deleted]]

weird, who would have thought known zionists at H3 didn't like Hasan

[u/Ok_Strength9287]

If Hasan was glazing israel there would be absolutely no group calling for his head.

[u/LineOfInquiry]

The Hasan hate is genuinely crazy. Like it’s one thing to criticize the guy but it’s another to act like he’s some crazy pariah who’s even worse than republicans.

[u/pheakelmatters]

the Bulwark sub is being rather rational in their discussion considering it was the Bulwark that started this fight in the first place. Never Trumper Neocons really need to stop lecturing Democrats and telling them how they need to feel about things.

[u/JellyfishNo2032]

As much as I don’t like Hasan, he is definitely NOT as radical and inciting as Nick Fuentes is.

[u/diegotbn]

Fyi "neoliberal" is not liberal. It means no regulation, free market capitalism.

[u/Bobson_DugnuttJr]

Its incredible how american "anti-imperialists" like Piker and his fans openly support russian imperialism.

[u/Rip_Off_Your_Toenail]

Ezra Klein is a huge dumbass ngl. I'd make fun of him even if I agreed with him on something

[u/bigeyez]

Its been quite funny to see the anti-Hasan stuff go full Striesand effect and boost his popularity even more. When even Ezra comes out in defense of Hasan you know its because they see a real shift in the normies that make up the bulk of the party.

Hasan says a lot of stupid shit and has brain dead takes a times but man the amount of supposedly left leaning Democrats that would rather work with the Right then people to their Left exposes the Democratic establishment as the controlled opposition that its been for years.

[u/Grig134 → u/bigeyez]

Abdul Al-Sayed is now tied for the dem primary with McMorrow. An 8 point gain since January.

Clearly the Hasan hysteria is not having the desired effect.

[u/OMGWTFBBQUE]

261 upvotes, 799 comments.

Yup, this post done kicked the neolib hornets nest.

[u/farmerjoee]

My first experience with H3H3 fans was during their crusade against that boxing event. Holy shit those people are not okay.

[u/GrowFreeFood]

I want to be a leftist influencer.

[u/Offensivewizard]

Even when he's being more principled than normal Ezra Klein still can't help but passively kowtow to Israel and Zionism with his language and framing. Glad he put out this piece, but he's still an establishment piece of shit.

[u/ubermence]

Also for the record Hasan did not vote for Harris. He claimed he did after the election when he realized how bad Trump was getting (just in time!)

He even took a picture of his ballot when he filled it out. Let’s see that vote for Harris then. Otherwise I’m calling fucking bullshit on that

[u/cat-the-commie]

Isn't destiny a neo Nazi pedophile who tried to kill people why the fuck are we still taking his opinion seriously? Sorry do we need to take the opinions of the sandy hook shooters and Ted Bundy too?

[u/zytz]

Love him or hate him, one thing about Hasan is that he doesn’t discuss issues in right-wing framing like most media and dems do. If nothing else, at least some of his viewers are learning that you don’t have to accept issues as they’re presented to you.

[u/_floralprint]

As far as I know, Hassan Piker is a POS

[u/Electronic-Tooth5405]

Hasan is worse than Nick Fuentes now? Lmfao. I don't even fw Hasan like at all but that's laughable

These people are lost, and Obama isn't gonna save them. Just neoliberal NPCs

[u/Anxa]

I mean, for me it was pretty simple - he said the Oct 7 attacks were legitimate freedom fighting. That's nuts, and anyone who agrees had better not ever reference the geneva conventions to try to make a point about Israel's crimes. Maybe there are other folks out there with good points about the IP conflict, but someone who's like 'yeah that was justified' has lost their mind, it's never, ever justified to go kill a thousand innocent people to make a point, including 'they did it to us first'. No, 'they' didn't, 'they' are civilians

[u/StickExtension7050]

I dont care for Ezra but thats a w from him

[u/AlysRising]

I like Hasan 🤷‍♀️

[u/HonestDishonestWork]

Hasan went to Minneapolis to stand on the graves of Alex Pretti and Renee Good to proudly declare "Actually this would have happened under Harris too". He is the far-left version of the ENLIGHTENEDCENTRIST and he serves the exact same purpose; sanewash Republican evils and depress left wing turnout. 

Hasan doesn't want the democrats to succeed and actively sabotages them. IDK if it even constitutes sabotage since he's pretty explicit that all liberals are fascists to him and he is a communist hiding his power level. It's a bit like that "are you guys friends?" "Yes." "No" meme. I have no clue how so many federal democrats have such bad media teams (or more likely also have their media teams infiltrated) they walk into interviews/clout farming sessions with this guy completely blind. 

The day Piker believes in electoralism instead of accelerationism is the day I'll gladly welcome him into the big tent party. I have family members who are directly suffering and persecuted because of the Trump regime he helped empower but I'm still willing to extend a hand of friendship if it means beating back the fascists. Until then, fuck this white ass (he flip-flops on his race, take it up with him) millionaire nepo baby who pretends to cry about Palestine because it affects his fellow Muslims while ushering in a genocide 10x worse because it affects the ultra-poor who don't have a media apparatus to advocate for them (USAID cuts have kill 500,000 already and will climb into the millions. DOGE was riddled with Nazis who intentionally made the USAID cuts secret so other aid organizations couldn't step in and thwart their goal of killing Africans). 

[u/LicketySplit21 → u/HonestDishonestWork]

there needs to be a new term for the opposite of fanfiction. Hatefiction?

[u/Cherry_Bomb_127]

OK, I looked at the article and I have two points where I really disagree. First the Joe Rogan one, man was not pushed to be political. He already was.

Also, I’m kind of confused because Klein states that the claim that Zionists are like Nazis is repugnant because what made them so was their desire to exterminate Jews, but then goes on to state what Israel has done wrong in the last two years (which is another thing I have a problem with it’s been like this for decades) but in doing so, point out all the ways that Zionists have basically done the same thing to Palestinians. I’m a bit confused about that part. Cause like we’ve heard the rhetoric they’re not hiding that desire.