House

Ocasio-Cortez draws hundreds of thousands of viewers on Twitch livestream

by John Bowden - 10/21/20 8:13 AM ET

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) entrance into the Twitch online gaming community became one of the most-watched streams in the platform’s history as more than half a million people tuned in Tuesday evening.

A multihour stream of the New York congresswoman playing “Among Us” alongside popular streamers Hasanabi and Pokimane and others including a colleague and fellow “squad” member, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), drew more than 430,000 viewers on her channel. Other streamers broadcasting while taking part in the event drew tens of thousands of concurrent viewers as well, likely bringing the total past half a million viewers.

The stream is now the third highest watched in Twitch history, according to Gamespot.com, trailing a record set by streamer Ninja in 2018 during a Fortnite session with rapper Travis Scott and hip-hop artist Drake. A Fortnite in-game event streamed earlier this year from Spanish streamer TheGrefg was the second most watched event.

Omar captioned a picture of herself playing on a staffer’s computer Tuesday evening shortly after joining the event, during which she won at least one match while at times playing alongside her oldest daughter, Isra Hirsi.

When you’re winning: pic.twitter.com/Fu7CMyCQDA

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 21, 2020

Other members of Congress appeared to be enjoying the stream from a distance.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), another “squad” member, tweeted a picture of her two sons watching Ocasio-Cortez play, and added: “They think this is the coolest thing ever & are trying to convince me to get with the program.”

My two boys watching @AOC & @IlhanMN on Twitch playing Among Us. They think this is the coolest thing ever & are trying to convince me to get with the program. https://t.co/4MssdBltWg pic.twitter.com/JOgBiur6P3

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) October 21, 2020

At one point in the stream, Ocasio-Cortez also announced that Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) had texted her, telling her that he was greatly enjoying the stream.

“I had no idea how Among Us worked before this Twitch stream, but this is great, and I’ve got my son speed-teaching me,” Amash tweeted minutes later.

I had no idea how Among Us worked before this Twitch stream, but this is great, and I’ve got my son speed-teaching me.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) October 21, 2020

Plans for the hugely popular stream evolved over the course of a single day following Ocasio-Cortez’s query to her followers a day earlier asking if anyone would be interested in a stream featuring a get-out-the-vote message.

Anyone want to play Among Us with me on Twitch to get out the vote? (I’ve never played but it looks like a lot of fun)

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 19, 2020

Numerous streamers including Pokimane and Hasanabi, also known as former Young Turks contributor Hasan Piker, responded to the congresswoman’s Monday tweet, apparently prompting plans for the star-studded stream.