James R | On 12, Oct 2019

Donald Trump has joined Twitch, just as Amazon’s streaming service is undergoing a subtle revamp.

The man elected President of the United States in 2016 has signed up to the live-streaming platform, in what has been interpreted as a move to widen his online reach – just at a point where he is facing an impeachment inquiry.

He broadcast on the site from a campaign rally on Thursday
in Minneapolis, with the footage available to replay on-demand – but with some audio removed, due to copyright issues, after the Trump campaign used Prince’s Purple Rain, prompting a complaint from the late artist‘s estate.

The decision by Trump’s team to create an account is a surprising one, given that Twitch is owned by Amazon, whose CEO Jeff Bezos is on far from friendly terms with Donald. But it marks a concerted effort by both the President and Twitch to widen their audiences. Indeed, last month the video platform unveiled a new logo and a declaration welcoming users who were not just part of the core gaming crowd that first populated the site. Twitch is also streaming NFL Thursday Night Football games live once again this season.

“We started with a simple truth: We were born to take on the entertainment industry, in all its forms, to add multiplayer to everything, and to help you, our creators and community members, lead the charge,” said Twitch in a blog post recently. “Creators are at the center of everything that makes Twitch, Twitch and our job is to show up for you, support you, and to shout your names from the rooftops. Not actual rooftops, but you get the idea.

“We’ve come a long way and together we’ve built a passionate community of creators who consistently amaze us with their creativity and dedication. We couldn’t be prouder to have helped you create so much, but we know there are a lot of people out in the world who don’t know about Twitch—or may know about Twitch but don’t think it’s for them…yet.”

Other US politicians on Twitch include Bernie Sanders, who has almost 89,000 followers versus Donald’s 44,000.

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