In both a sign and indictment of the times, former president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump became a Kick streamer yesterday. Specifically, Trump appeared on the channel of controversial streamer Adin Ross for a fawning 90-minute interview, live from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, that drew over half a million viewers at its peak.
What did they talk about? All sorts. In Trump's trademark rambling style, the pair touched on topics ranging from the ex-president's disastrous appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention to a peculiar lightning round in which Ross pulled up images of celebrities and world leaders—including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, DPRK supreme leader Kim Jong-un, plus Ross and Trump themselves—and asked Trump to give a one-word summation of each, a word limit the former prez immediately failed to keep to.
Trump said he had heard of Ross via his own son, 18-year-old Barron Trump, who is apparently a big fan of the streamer. "'Dad, he's really big,'" said Trump, imitating his son, "'he's also a friend of mine.'"
That the younger Trump is a Ross fan isn't a surprise. At his Twitch peak, Ross had 7.2 million followers and currently has 1.36 million followers on Kick, and he has particular sway over young men like Barron Trump. Donald Trump no doubt hopes his appearance on Ross' stream will give him a boost among the demographic come election time.
To put it delicately, Ross is a controversial figure: He courted multiple Twitch bans during his time on Amazon's service for using slurs, and eventually had to take a permanent ban—for "Hateful conduct"—from the platform after livestreaming his own unmoderated Kick chat on it, which was filled with antisemitic and racist messages. He has also played host to Andrew Tate, the misogynistic influencer currently facing charges for rape and human trafficking in Romania. He might not host him again though: Tate might bear a grudge after Ross reportedly got Tate arrested by revealing he intended to flee Romania during a livestream.
At nearly an hour and a half, the stream is too long and too baffling to summarise in its entirety, but there are a few highlights. For instance, Trump praised the "sizzle" of his political enemy, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, comparing her to Eva Perón in front of a smiling Ross (who has previously struggled with political history).
Later, Ross presented Trump with a gift: A Rolex watch, which the billionaire graciously accepted. All of this occurred before Ross asked Trump if there was anything that could be done for Ross' friend, rapper Young Thug, who is currently facing charges for racketeering. "I have a friend who's currently being treated unfair by [district attorney Fani Willis]... I just was wondering if there's a way that we can make sure he gets treated fair, that's all." Trump didn't really give Ross an answer, beyond emphasising that Young Thug should "be treated fairly."
That would be enough to make you question the reality of our current moment by itself, but it doesn't hold a candle to the stream's finale. After wrapping up Trump's rambling assessment of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with a brief detour by Ross into the former president's plan for the crypto industry, the streamer and ex-prez went on a walk through the Mar-a-Lago resort.
On the way out, they encountered Canadian streamer xQc, who showed off a custom shirt featuring Trump wearing a grill. "I love that," said Trump, bending down for a closer look, "That's fantastic." The former president then told xQc "Congratulations," for some reason, as he and Ross walked away.
Ending up outside, Ross presented Trump with his final gift for the stream: A customised Tesla Cybertruck, adorned with the now-famous AP photo of a blood-streaked Trump raising a fist in the immediate aftermath of his assassination attempt last month. The pair then sat together in the truck's front seats and listened to Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley, along with California Dreamin' by The Mamas & the Papas, God Only Knows by The Beach Boys, Beat It by Michael Jackson, and Don't, another Elvis banger.
In the stream's final minute, Ross and Trump stood outside Mar-a-Lago and danced to no audible music. Trump then told assembled cameras and phones—apparently recording for TikTok—that "We're gonna save TikTok, [Biden and Harris] wanna destroy TikTok. So all the people on TikTok, vote for Trump."
All of that really happened, and it's more than a little hard to process. Of course, it's not even remotely new for politicians to turn new media to their advantage, and to participate in awkward or cringeworthy events in an attempt to showcase their humanity and reach new audiences.
Heck, the aforementioned Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez was streaming Among Us four years ago in an attempt to get young people to vote. Much darker, Russia has even enlisted streamers to drive propaganda for its war in Ukraine, as in the case with GrishaPutin, who played a Hearts of Iron 4 mod from the headquarters of the mercenary Wagner Group.
So why does this even register on the surreal-o-meter? There's more than one reason. Trump is a pretty surreal character all by himself, Ross is clearly out of his depth discussing politics, and the multiple expensive gifts to a billionaire presidential candidate seem utterly bizarre (and may have violated campaign finance rules). Combine that with the pair rocking out to a combo of golden oldies in a Cybertruck adorned with a photo taken seconds after someone tried to shoot Trump dead and, well, I think it becomes clear why this all seems so strange.
It's also probably set to happen again. Just after the stream, Ross responded to a tweet from Twitter owner (and Trump supporter) Elon Musk, asking "Can we stream next? I'll fly to you tonight." Strap in, folks. We're in for a long one.
