Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, played video games and talked politics in a stream on Twitch with less than two weeks before the election.
In the stream on Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch channel, she and Walz discussed topics like Social Security, control of the House and disillusioned left-wing voters. The two also played Madden NFL, with the New York House member picking the Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota governor picking the Minnesota Vikings in a head-to-head matchup.
The Twitch team up with Ocasio-Cortez and Walz comes as Vice President Harris’s campaign attempts to court young men, who are commonly associated with the streaming platform. Harris has also recently launched a Twitch channel herself.
One notable moment in the stream came as Walz and Ocasio-Cortez were reacting to comments about Puerto Rico made during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday. In the comments, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said “I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” adding that he believes “it’s called Puerto Rico.”
“Who is that jackwad? Who is that guy?” Walz questioned.
Ocasio-Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, later said “the thing that is so messed up that I wish more people understood, is that the things that they do in Puerto Rico are a testing ground for the policies and the horrors that they wish … that they do unveil in working class communities across the United States.”
“And, I need people to understand … when you have some a-hole calling Puerto Rico ‘floating garbage,’ know that that's what they think about you,” she added.
The Sunday comments from Hinchcliffe also drew backlash from other Democrats and the Harris campaign.
“As a Puerto Rican, I am tempted to call Hinchcliffe racist garbage but doing so would be an insult to garbage,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said in a post on the social platform X. “When casting their ballots at the voting booth, Latinos should never forget the racism that Donald Trump seems all too willing to platform.”
In a response posted to the social platform X on Sunday to Walz and Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism during the stream, Hinchcliffe said it is “[w]ild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist.”
“I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon,” Hinchcliffe said.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Updated at 10:52 pm EDT.
