- President Trump has joined video-streaming platform Twitch.
- Twitch is primarily used by gamers to broadcast what they're playing to their followers.
- Twitch is owned Amazon, a company which Trump has frequently attacked along with its owner Jeff Bezos.
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US President Donald Trump has taken to a surprising new digital platform for his 2020 campaign trail - Twitch.
Twitch is a video-streaming website primarily known as a site for gamers to broadcast live footage of what they're playing to followers. It has more than 15 million average daily visitors, helped launch the careers of a generation of professional gamers and streaming personalities like Fortnite pro Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, and is owned by Amazon.
Trump's account bears a verified tick on the site, and thus far only contains video of his Minneapolis rally from Thursday night. When The Verge first reported on Trump's Twitch debut on Thursday, his channel had just 135 followers. At time of writing, that has shot up to almost 35,700.
Amazon, which bought Twitch for $970 million in 2014, is one of Trump's biggest bugbears. But his presence on the site highlights how Trump's personal grievances do little to stop the president and his team taking advantage of platforms that could be advantageous to him.
Trump has attacked Amazon and its owner Jeff Bezos on numerous occasions over the years:
- Trump has accused Amazon of abusing its relationship with the US Postal Service, and threatened to raise the rates Amazon pays USPS.
- He has blasted the company on Twitter for not paying enough tax.
- Jeff Bezos' ownership of the Washington Post led Trump to dub the paper the "Amazon Washington Post."
- When news of Jeff Bezos' divorce broke earlier in 2019, Trump tweeted gleefully and nicknamed Bezos "Jeff Bozo."
- Amazon was among the tech companies Trump said could be a "very antitrust situation" last year.
- Trump told officials to re-examine Amazon's bid for a $10 billion defense contract, the Washington Post reported in August.
Trump has also previously accused Twitter of anti-conservative bias and censorship, but remains prolific on the social network.
