Bernie Sanders’ cameo appearance on Twitch got off to a rather awkward start as Sykkuno joined the stream using a VTuber model – leaving the politician scratching his head.
In the build-up to the U.S. Presidential elections, the influence of streamers is not lost on top politicians vying for attention. We’ve already seen Donald Trump on Adin Ross’ stream, followed by a Tim Walz rally streamed alongside WoW gameplay.
The latest is Bernie Sanders, although he is no novice to streaming, having done a stream on his own Twitch channel way back in 2019. This time though, he appeared on the streams of Valkyrae, Pokimane, Sykkuno, and AustinShow.
At the outset, the popular streamers made sure to introduce themselves, but Sykkuno’s didn’t go exactly as he would have wanted.
Using a VTuber avatar, due to a “skin condition,” he had to explain why he wasn’t using a regular camera.
“Do you know what a VTuber is?” Sykkuno questioned Sanders. “Have you heard of a VTuber before?”
Visibly a little confused, Sanders simply replied, “nope.” Pokimane jumped in to try to clarify: “It’s when they have this animated profile.”
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“Oh, well, ok,” Sanders responded, still a little unsure of what to make of the situation. He followed up, however, to compliment the avatar, “looking good, looking very good.”
Sykkuno then muted his mic to let out the awkwardness just to his viewers. “Chat, he thinks we’re a psycho. He 100% thinks we’re a psycho.”
Despite the slightly clumsy start, the stream went on to be a success, and pulled in tens of thousands of viewers over their various channels on Twitch and YouTube.
Hosted primarily by AustinShow, the streamers quizzed Sanders with some tough questions, and discussed the serious issues of the day such as healthcare and foreign policy.
Before Sanders joined, the streamers were also joined by other big names, including Mark Hamill and Mark Cuban.
Mark Cuban had to shut down a viral rumor that he had bid on a charity auction for the chance to play games with Pokimane, explaining: “That was not me. I would have paid any amount of money. You know it wasn’t me because it wasn’t high enough.”
