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this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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Hasan is a grifter. Right.
Yes he is by the very definition of the word
Grifters change what they say according to what's popular. They can say one thing one week according to the news cycle, then say the exact opposite thing the next.
Assmanmold for instance is a grifter because he's contradicts his beliefs as he follows what his audience believes the most. Most recent example of this was with Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Assman praised ICE in the former case and said they should do more of what they did to Renee. Then he condemned ICE in the latter case and demanded accountability.
Hasan has stayed true to his beliefs over the past 10-15 years he's been doing political commentary. He's believed certain things especially when it wasn't popular, and suffered the consequences. Good example of this was October 7th when HAMAS bombed that music festival in Israel. Hasan explained the event as blowback of an oppressed nation against the oppressor regime, Israel, that had been committing apartheid and ethnic cleansing for decades. Hasan lost a third of his community as a result of his beliefs on October 7th, but he's been clawing back a lot of those losses.
Hasan isn't a grifter. He's a left winger. And it just so happens that the right wing in America are fucking shit up so hard that the popular response in the American citizenry is to push left.
You're an idiot if you don't know the difference.
That's not necessarily true. You can be very consistent as a grifters, a la, Ben Shapiro. The thing that's a makes a grifter that is hypocrisy. They preach something for financial gain, but then use the money for something else. Hasan falls into this camp.
The fact that all his stans have resorted to insulting me right off the bat let's me know that I am indeed correct
Ben Shapiro is actually losing prominence in contemporary politics, or at least American Republican politics, precisely because he won't grift further to the right his other contemporaries like Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes. Shapiro is seeing more spotlight from the American Liberal media these days because he is consistent in his views, yet Liberals are approaching his positions.
Ben Shapiro is a counter argument to your position.
Oh I didn't insult you right off the bat. I rejected your position.
Then you showed to the rest of us how much of a dumbass you were, to which I seized the moment.
Keep coping that you're right though
I genuinely don't care about the current status of Ben Shapiro. That's besides the point.
What the fuck are you even talking about? The term "grift" is not a verb that indicates political leanings. A grifter is someone who engages in acts that swindle people out of their money. The concept has nothing to do with political views. That's why both Hasan and Ben Shapiro are grifters.
Do you even know what we're talking about?
Did you? You just made up a premise and went on a rant about it before calling me an idiot at the end.
A grifter doesn't need to flip flop on their views in order to grift. A grifter can have a consistent position that they preach while they take the money they swindle to the bank. The deception comes from how their words and actions contradict each other. That's what defines a grifter. Hasan, like Ben Shapiro, falls into this category. What he preaches is consistent, however, what he preaches and how he actually acts are fundamentally at odds at each other. The way he lives his life contradicts everything that he preaches, which can only mean that he's saying what he is saying in order to swindle people for profit.
I'm sure you're the type of neckbeard who has a whiteboard next to his bed to record all the internet people he's rekt in online arguments.
Yet you brought him up, probably because you thought it'd help your argument.
Keep coping elsewhere, keyboard warrior libtard. In the meantime, there's a socialist movement brewing outside. Maybe you should leave your mom's basement for once, touch grass, and join in. You'll have a lot more impact than whatever the fuck you're trying to do on Lemmy.
Jesus Christ you're slow. No, I brought him up as an example of a grifter who's been consistent with his views. How successful or relevant he is today means NOTHING because it has nothing to do with my point. The fact that you don't get something as simple and straightforward as this shows that you're either engaging in bad faith or you're too slow for this conversation.
You idiots really are like left wing version of MAGA.
BEN SHAPIRO ISN'T A GRIFTER. Grifters update their views to follow what popular because that nets them the most income. Well, what's popular now in right wing media is anti-Semitic fascism that even extends to Israel, which fundamentally goes against what Shapiro believes. This is why Shapiro has been distancing himself from the mainstream Right.
Shapiro USED to be a grifter which got him fame in the right wing world. But now he's sticking to his beliefs so hard that it's actually harming his fame because the right keeps moving farther to the right, beyond what Ben finds acceptable. He barely gets any motion on social media anymore, instead pivoting to centrist media.
Your original point was that it's possible to be both a grifter and have consistent views. You brought up Ben Shapiro as evidence to substantiate your claim. What you don't realize is that Ben Shapiro is ass these days, and not a good example. Because you gave a bad example which didn't support your beliefs whatsoever, I'm inclined to believe the OPPOSITE of your claim which is to say that grifters CANNOT stay consistent with their views. Hasan has been consistent for his entire political career, so he doesn't grift.
Got it? Got it.
The fundamental issue here is that you literally don't know what the word grifter means. We're operating on two different planes here because I'm using the actual definition, and you're not. So just as a refresher, this is what a grifter is:
This is the definition from the Cambridge dictionary.
Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/grifter
If we use this definition as the basis of our discussion, then we can make rule out some things such as:
Therefore, your argument in this comment is invalid based on these points that we just inferred.
Furthermore, since consistency and grifting are not opposites, a political commentator, such as Hasan or Ben, can absolutely hold consistent views and still be a grifter. Grifting, as per the definition, is about motivation and incentives, not whether someone’s positions change over time. A commentator may repeat the same arguments for years, but if those arguments are primarily shaped by what attracts money, attention, or loyalty from an audience rather than a genuine effort to inform or engage honestly, that is grifting. In fact, consistency can make grifting easier by creating a reliable brand that builds trust and is easier to monetize. What separates good faith commentary from grifting is not stability of views, but a willingness to acknowledge uncertainty, admit mistakes, update positions when evidence changes, and criticize one’s own side even at the cost of popularity.
Based on this basic analysis, I think my conclusion to call both Ben Shapiro and Hasan Piker grifters is valid. The conversation now shifts from what makes a grifter that to why I think Hasan is a grifter. Just an FYI, I won't focus on Ben from here on out since he was only referenced to demonstrate a point and nothing more. So why do I think Hasan is a grifter? It's simple, he's a hypocrite who lives a lifestyle that completely contradictory to what he preaches. He's swindling his audience for money by selling them ideas that he himself doesn't believe in and live by. Do I have proof for this? I think it's only fair that the burden of proof falls on me to prove the deception, and the answer to that is, yes, I do. I already written a comment here showcasing exactly how Hasan is a grifter right here:
https://lemmy.world/comment/21924262
Thus, we can conclude that Hasan Piker is a grifter as per the definition of the word.
According to Wiktionary:
(informal, originally Canada, US) A con artist; someone who pulls confidence games; a swindler, scammer, huckster, hustler, and/or charlatan.
(colloquial, especially Internet) A manipulator or otherwise generally corrupt person who "games" a system, group of people, or other entity for selfish gains; especially of a political "sell-out" perceived as lacking integrity.
Hasan doesn't lack integrity. Hasan has been pushing the same beliefs and world view for his entire career. And the moments where he was wrong in his analysis, like when he predicted that Russia wouldn't invade Ukraine, he owned up to it and said he was wrong. He tends to avoid making predictions about what world powers will do these days because his predictions have been wrong before.
Hasan is not selfish, as I've already demonstrated in one of the comments I responded to you with.
Hasan does not manipulate because his funding source, coming from his fans, allows him to be impartial when it comes to covering the news. The same cannot be said for Ben Shapiro, Candice Owens, Megan Kelly, Fox News, etc. because these people have to tow the line of the party and follow the direction of the US State Department or else face getting de-platformed. If Hasan is de-platformed on Twitch, he can pick up and move to YouTube or somewhere else and his fans will follow. Hasan is an independent commentator. And if you think he's manipulating his fans, it's only because he's acting in opposition to the US State Department who's doing the same. It is an information war out there.
Hasan is not a con artist. I can't believe I have to state this given that the biggest con artist in the US political system is the man currently at the top, which happens to be Hasan's largest opponent. Hasan makes it his mission to debunk what Trump says and cut through the lies he spews. If you think Hasan is a grifter but ignore the reality of Trump, then I have no other conclusion to make than to think you're a conservative in sheep's clothing, disguised as a progressive that actually wants to undermine the movement, or an enlightened centrist that tries to do "both sides" apologizing. Not going to cut it on Lemmy of all places.
Kindly, fuck off.
Oh really. Exactly what does he grift people out of, oh wise one?
Money, how is that even a question?
Success = Grifter
That's terminal capitalism brain for you