Ilhan Omar, AOC playing 'Among Us' becomes one of largest Twitch streaming events ever
Two of Congress' younger representatives took their voting appeal to the gaming world, with near-record results on Tuesday evening.
Minnesota's 5th District Rep. Ilhan Omar joined New York's Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a game of the multiplayer "Among Us" along with some big names from the gaming and online world including Pokimane (Imane Anys), Disguised Toast (Jeremy Wang) and Jacksepticeye (Sean McLaughlin).
Omar was also joined by her daughter, Isra Hirsi, for the game, which attracted huge attention on the streaming site Twitch, at one point attracting 430,000 concurrent viewers on AOC's stream, with a further 200,000 following on streams from other players.
Vulture.com reports that AOC's stream became the third highest watched Twitch stream in the site's history.
If you're not familiar with "Among Us," it's a multiplayer game in which one person takes on the role of the "imposter" whose job it is to sabotage the ship and kill off the rest of the crew while maintaining their secret identity, with players choosing to vote someone off every time a player dies. Basically it's like online "Werewolf."
During the course of several games, Omar got her fair share of kills in – attracting plenty of compliments as she made it to the final three as an imposter – and also used the platform to make an appeal for viewers to vote.
The gaming community is massive and one that is often left untapped by politicians.
Thanks to the proliferation of online multiplayers and streaming platforms like Twitch, there's the potential to reach a huge number of young Americans, albeit a demographic that has historically underwhelmed when it comes to poll turnout.
Both AOC and Omar received praise in the community for their involvement Tuesday evening, though it remains to be seen whether it shifts the needle among young voters.
Omar also attracted plenty of compliments for the gaming PC she was using, provided by her deputy comms director, Isi Baehr-Breen.
Rep. Omar will be seeking re-election to Minnesota's 5th District on Nov. 3, and goes up against Republican challenger Lacy Johnson.