Twitch's Bad Week Caps Off With Announcement That Embattled Congressman Matt Gaetz Is Joining The Platform

As if Twitch didn't have enough headaches this week with several of its top streamers embroiled in scandals related to gambling and cover-ups of sexual assault, others threatening to leave the platform after the company announced its top streamers will make less money and a Bloomberg report about child predators on the platform, contentious Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (currently embroiled in an investigation related to him allegedly sex trafficking minors) has announced that he's joining the platform to bring his "America First message to a new generation of viewers."

I’m joining @Twitch to bring my America First message to a new generation of viewers. Twitch will join the lineup of platforms I livestream on, including Rumble, GETTR, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

SUBSCRIBE: https://t.co/DIHsnOGF3N pic.twitter.com/y24RBzqqOw

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 22, 2022

After sparking controversy early last year, Gaetz's case has resurfaced in the media over the last week after it was reported by The Washington Post that Gaetz sought a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. However, hours ago, WaPo also reported that federal prosecutors have recommended against charging Gaetz due to credibility issues with key witnesses.

While things may be looking up for Gaetz in relation to his sexual misconduct investigation, they're certainly not looking up for Twitch, who faced a mix of criticism and near-sympathy from social media users who felt it was darkly humorous that amidst Twitch's controversy-filled week, it had to deal with a contentious figure like Gaetz joining the platform. Many felt Gaetz's timing was extremely poor, joking that Bloomberg's article on Twitch's child predators inspired his choice.

this is certainly what we needed on the platform. https://t.co/acKSMkprHs

— gaetz pedo fbi investigation (@hasanthehun) September 22, 2022

Matt Gaetz saw the Bloomberg article yesterday on how prevalent child predation was on Twitch and said "bet" https://t.co/p1kRmBHjvO

— ostonox (@ostonox) September 22, 2022

Matt Gaetz when he hears of gaining younger audiences on Twitch https://t.co/VLor3jYWhk pic.twitter.com/8xfXtGoekt

— ꒰ა Taledo ໒꒱ – Fallen Angel Vtuber 🎊 (@AyoTaledo) September 23, 2022

Currently, Gaetz has 1,400 followers on the platform. He's yet to stream there, however, meaning the world will have to wait to see if a man accused of sex trafficking minors joining a platform accused of being a host for child predators will be as problematic as it sounds.