About

Hasan Piker Reading Lenin is a series of two photographs of leftist political Twitch streamer Hasan Piker (Hasanabi) holding the book What Is To Be Done by Vladimir Lenin while on a train, reading the book in the first photo and staring out the window in the second. The images were uploaded by Piker to his X / Twitter account on April 30th, 2026, and went viral over the following days.

The photographs inspired memes, including edits that change the book in his hands to something else, such as a viral version that shows him reading a shock collar magazine. The photographs also inspired reactions and discourse online, particularly surrounding the claim that Piker is wearing a Cartier ring worth thousands of dollars on his left hand while reading a book by a communist revolutionary. Hasan later claimed that the ring is not Cartier but Chrome Hearts.

Origin

On April 30th, 2026, socialist political influencer and Twitch streamer Hasan "Hasanabi" Piker posted two photographs on Twitter / X,^[1] one in which he is reading Russian communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin's book What Is To Be Done? on a train, and another where he is looking out the train window, the book resting in his lap. The post gained over 14,000 likes, 2,100 reposts and 10 million views in a day.

Spread

The images of Hasan Piker reading Lenin's book became the subject of memes and discourse online as it spread in late April 2026.

On April 30th, 2026, X^[2] user @fleshsimulator posted a Photoshop edit of the image that replaces the book with a "Dog Collar Monthly" magazine, referencing the controversy surrounding Piker in which some believe that he shocked his dog with an electric collar while on stream, garnering over 10,000 likes in a day.

That day, X^[3] user @CatShoshanna posted an edit that points out the ring on Piker's finger. The edit claims that he is wearing a Cartier "Juste un Clou" ring, which runs for $4,350 Canadian, according to the edit. The post, which reads, "Lenin in one hand, Cartier on the other," garnered over 100,000 likes and 7,800 reposts in a day.

The post is meant to point out the hypocrisy of holding and promoting socialist views and reading a book by a communist revolutionary while wearing an expensive piece of jewelry.

Search Interest

External References