AOC's 'Among Us' stream had commentator who said US 'deserved 9/11'
The stream pulled in a record number of viewers, with close to 440,000 tuning in.
By AARON REICHU.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks to members of the media following a televised town hall event on the “Green New Deal” in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 29, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS/JEENAH MOON)
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) was hit with controversy for her Twitch livestream of the popular video game Among Us, after she was found to have included a social media personality who said the US "deserved 9/11."The stream, which took place Tuesday night, saw a lengthy roster of notable figures joining in, including fellow Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and popular streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys. However, included on that list was political commentator Hasan “hasanabi” Piker, who infamously drew controversy in 2019 for his comments that the US deserved to be attacked on September 11, 2001.Piker, who was at the time a commentator for the online news series The Young Turks (TYT), later backtracked on these comments, saying they were "inappropriate" and claiming they were an attempt at satire.“I should’ve used more precise and better use of the language there,” Piker explained in an August 2019 interview with TYT founder and host Cenk Uygur.“It’s messed up that I would even give the opportunity to the Right to try to morally grandstand on an issue like this, when they are 100% responsible for all the bloodshed that’s been caused.”Omar has also been hit with controversy in the past regarding 9/11, having infamously said "some people did something" on that day while addressing the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).Omar also is controversial for her outspoken support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, which, among other things, advocates boycotting the use of Israeli or Israel-made products.Despite this, when prompted to show the specs for her computer following the livestream, Omar disclosed that her computer used the Intel Core i7-10700K processor.This processor is one of Intel's 10th generation processors, which were made by the Intel team in Haifa, according to Calcalist.Ocasio-Cortez's livestream of Among Us – which is a popular video game wherein players participate in conducting maintenance tasks aboard a spaceship while one or two imposters attempt to sabotage and kill them off – was intended to highlight the importance of voting. This is referenced heavily in the central focus of the game, the emergency meetings, wherein the players debate who is suspicious (or "sus," to use in-game parlance) and should be ejected from the ship.
The stream also served to campaign against incumbent President Donald Trump, with Ocasio-Cortez even declaring that "Orange is sus," a reference to Trump and implying he should be ejected from the White House.“Of course, we are here to vote Blue – that's [why] I’m here, to let you all know,” she added during the stream.This isn't the only video game being used to promote the Democratic Party ahead of the November 3 election. Notably, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has been actively campaigning over popular Nintendo Switch title Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which even features a fully-detailed Biden island complete with a campaign headquarters, ads, a digital avatar of the nominee and in-game merchandise available for players.The stream pulled in a record number of viewers, with close to 440,000 viewers tuning in for the stream. This makes it the third-highest watched stream in Twitch history, with the record being popular singer Drake's Fortnite stream, which pulled over 600,000 viewers.Ocasio-Cortez's passion for video games is well documented, with the New York congresswoman able to balance her political career with climbing up the rankings of popular MOBA title League of Legends. Her Twitch channel boasts a total of 550,000 followers, a massive lead over other US politicians on the platform. For comparison, Trump's account, which is used only to broadcast speeches rather than stream video games, has only 143,000.
