Here’s my hypothesis: he’s the Richard Spencer of the left.
The first thing he does is defy the stereotype just a little bit. Before the alt-right/anti-sjw glow up of the right, the stereotype of chuds would be frumpy suburbanites at best, but usually rednecks who don’t know a word they’re talking about (classism aside, it did make SOME chuddery ridiculous). But after that we got Richard Spencer in the suit & tie who treated being a chud as intellectual.
Now think of the current left-wing stereotype, literally either the local nerd or emo outcast from your high school. Either way, part of the “uncool” crowd. Hasan counters that by being pretty conventionally attractive and in his own words “just being a guy”. Plus he’s educated from Rutgers and speaks without Jargon so he comes off as aspirational. TL;DR: Breaks the leftist stereotype by being a bit of a jock.
The second thing he does is know when to be edgy and when not to be. He has been banned a bunch of times and has some infamy in both the traditional tv media and the social media which gives him some edgelord credentials.
Here’s my hypothesis: he’s the Richard Spencer of the left.
The first thing he does is defy the stereotype just a little bit. Before the alt-right/anti-sjw glow up of the right, the stereotype of chuds would be frumpy suburbanites at best, but usually rednecks who don’t know a word they’re talking about (classism aside, it did make SOME chuddery ridiculous). But after that we got Richard Spencer in the suit & tie who treated being a chud as intellectual.
Now think of the current left-wing stereotype, literally either the local nerd or emo outcast from your high school. Either way, part of the “uncool” crowd. Hasan counters that by being pretty conventionally attractive and in his own words “just being a guy”. Plus he’s educated from Rutgers and speaks without Jargon so he comes off as aspirational. TL;DR: Breaks the leftist stereotype by being a bit of a jock.
The second thing he does is know when to be edgy and when not to be. He has been banned a bunch of times and has some infamy in both the traditional tv media and the social media which gives him some edgelord credentials.