Donald Trump Joins Twitch, Amazon-Owned Video Game Streaming Site

President could look to live stream more of his rallies as the 2020 election draws closer

Donald Trump
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President Trump has joined Twitch, the Amazon-owned streaming platform best known for live streaming video games, as he looks to expand his digital reach beyond Twitter a year out from the 2020 election.

Trump’s verified account posted its first video on Thursday night — a 105-minute live stream of his rally in Minnesota. The president ripped 2020 Democratic contender Joe Biden at the rally, saying he was only a well-liked vice president because he “understood how to kiss Barack Obama’s ass.”

The video had 39,000 views as of Friday morning, and his account had nearly 46,000 followers by that time.

Amazon purchased Twitch in 2014 for $970 million. Twitch has become the internet’s dominant live streaming site since then, largely thanks to its focus on gaming. Twitch racked up 2.7 billion hours of live content viewed during a recent three month stretch, while YouTube, the world’s biggest video site, only had 735 million hours of live streamed content during that same time, according to The New York Times. The company  — while grappling with the loss of Ninja, its biggest star, to Microsoft’s Mixer over the summer — is now trying to extend beyond its gaming roots.

Another eyebrow-raising aspect to Trump joining Twitch is that he’s had a contentious relationship with Amazon chief Jeff Bezos for years. President Trump has been a frequent critic of Amazon and Bezos — as well as the Washington Post, which Bezos bought in 2013.

“The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!” Trump tweeted in 2017. He’s also blasted the company for tax breaks and treating the USPS as its personal “delivery boy.”

Bezos, who rarely weighs in on politics in pubic, pushed back against the president last year, calling his routine criticism of the media “dangerous.” 

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