"Tankie losers": Ethan Klein puts HasanAbi on blast for supposedly defending North Korea

H3H3 Productions founder Ethan Klein and one of Twitch's most viewed political commentators, Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker, have been going back and forth through clips, X posts, and Instagram stories for about two years. The reason behind their differences is rooted in opposing political ideologies. Recently, Klein called out Piker for allegedly defending North Korea against the United States.

In an Instagram story posted on April 21, 2025, Klein called Piker a "tankie" for speaking about North Korea as a "direct victim of US imperialism":

"Only the most pathetic of tankie losers would defend North Korea, holy sh*t dude."

The term "tankie" is an informal label that is often used — sometimes offensively — to describe individuals — typically Marxist-Leninists or socialists — who support or defend seemingly authoritarian communist regimes.

In the past, HasanAbi openly claimed socialism as part of his political compass, which he said was one of his "biggest failures" in his online career.

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What did HasanAbi say about North Korea?

For context, on April 21, 2025, HasanAbi reposted a screenshot from a TikTok with a caption advocating for North Korea that read:

"North Korea is actually a beautiful socialist country with free housing and healthcare that's been battling US imperialism for decades and not the horrible dictatorship the West has told you it is."

In response, Piker claimed that, historically speaking, North Korea (DPRK) has suffered due to U.S. imperialism:

"Ironic since DPRK is, as a matter of historical fact, a direct victim of U.S imperialism. So while this person has a rose colored view, she is still closer to reality, on that acknowledgment alone, than every single American who thinks they pull trains & eat rat sh*t for breakfast."

While Piker acknowledged that the person who made the TikTok might have an overly positive or idealized view of North Korea, he believed that they were still closer to the truth than most Americans who mock North Koreans as brainwashed or starving. He said that at least the TikToker recognized the basic reality.

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In other news, Asmongold claimed that HasanAbi tried to pay him thousands of dollars worth of Twitch subs to watch a video criticizing Ethan Klein.