Bernie Sanders, the 83-year-old American politician and activist, has been introduced to the world of “VTubers” during a Twitch stream.
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Earlier this month, Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris turned to Twitch as part of her election campaign. One stream featured a World Of Warcraft streamer providing commentary during a speech made by her running mate Tim Walz.
Last night, Bernie Sanders hosted his own Twitch stream to back Kamala Harris. He was joined by streamers Pokimane and Valkyrae during the hour-long broadcast, with the former recreating Sanders’ meme-worthy look at the 2021 inauguration. Billionaire Mark Cuban also got involved and joked that he was late because he was “playing Bernie in Call Of Duty. I kicked his ass, so it was time to come on.”
bernie sanders is live and pokimane’s jacket makes loud brushing noises whenever she moves lol https://t.co/Kha2ZzjwBA pic.twitter.com/mfLTWozoqz
— Gene Park (@GenePark) October 22, 2024
Star Wars actor Mark Hamill also appeared during the stream but the most bizarre moment happened when YouTuber Sykkuno logged on, via an animated avatar. Sykkuno then asked Sanders if he knew what a VTuber was and, after a few moments of silence, he confirmed that he had no idea what a Virtual YouTuber was. But now he does, with Sykkuno explaining that it’s someone who creates content via a computer-generated avatar.
An unbelievable and truly historic moment from today’s Pokimane stream with Senator Bernie Sanders pic.twitter.com/OYzCWbGArF
— Bonnicula Vampire VTuber (@BonniculaLive) October 23, 2024
During the stream, Sanders also called the upcoming election “the most consequential election in our lifetimes,” and described Harris’ opponent Donald Trump as “vulgar” and a “pathological liar” (via Rolling Stone). He went on to emphasise how “progressive” American youth is today and said he had hopes for “a very high turnout among younger people” in November.
When Harris launched her Twitch channel earlier this year, a spokesperson said it was part of a campaign strategy to reach young voters who may be disaffected by modern politics.
Kamala Harris has been endorsed by the likes of Insane Clown Posse, Cher, Billie Eilish and Jon Bon Jovi in recent weeks. “A lot of my fans are going to be able to vote for the first time [and] I would love to feel safe as a woman in my country,” said Eilish.
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