Hasan Piker's "Make the Rich Pay Tax" T-shirt

Submission 17,051

Part of a series on Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker. [View Related Entries]

About

Hasan Piker's "Make the Rich Pay Tax" T-shirt refers to a "fit pic" posted by Twitch streamer Hasan Piker to his Instagram in April 2017. The photo of him in the shirt gained meme momentum in August 2021 following multiple reposts on Twitter. The image of him in the shirt was seen as cringeworthy and ironic in the sense that Piker is a multi-millionaire and recently bought a $3-million house during summer 2021.

Origin

On April 6th, 2017, Hasan Piker posted to his Instagram,^[1] @hasandpiker, with a photo of himself wearing a shirt reading, "Make The Rich Pax," using the anarchy symbol as an "A." The phrase is an abbreviation for the saying, "Make The Rich Pay Tax." When posted by Piker, the image (shown below) received roughly 13,500 likes over the course of one week.

The image of Piker didn't receive meme attention until August 18th, 2021, when Twitter account @BrailledFOTW tweeted^[2] the photo on its page paired with the caption, "Bernie 2024." The tweet (shown below) received roughly 1,500 likes over the course of one week.

Spread

The image gained ironic potency going into the rest of August 2021 due to Piker's recent acquisition of a $2.7-million mansion in Los Angeles.^[3] After the photo of him in the T-shirt received attention on the 18th, more people on Twitter began to react to the irony of the photo, like user @mirandajmarks who tweeted^[4] on August 20th, 2021, talking about the contradiction. Her tweet (shown below, left) received roughly 2,900 likes in one day. In contrast, other people on Twitter defended Piker, like user @Lauren_Southern. Her tweet^[5] (shown below, right) was also posted on August 20th and received roughly 2,900 likes as well.

Piker responded to things being said about him and his new house on Twitter on August 20th, 2021. His tweet^[6] (shown below) received roughly 30,000 likes over the course of two days.

Regardless of Piker's intentions for his new home for him and his parents,^[7] the photo of him continued to be used in memes. Going into September 2021, the photo of him turned into an exploitable, with Twitter users like @kielbasagarage, tweeting on September 6th, 2021, a photoshopped image of U.S. President Joe Biden in place of Piker. The tweet^[8] (shown below) received roughly 83,000 likes over the course of two days.

The image of him in the T-shirt received more remixes going into September 2021, with other people like Jeff Bezos being photoshopped in as well.^[9] The image got more attention after the 2021 Met Gala when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was seen at the event wearing a Tax the Rich dress.