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Twitch Suspends Trump for 'Hateful Conduct'

Twitch suspended the Trump campaign’s Twitch account for violating its restrictions against ‘hateful conduct.’
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President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Thursday, June 25, 2020, in Marinette, Wis. Image: AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Twitch has suspended the official account of the Trump campaign.

“Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch,” a Twitch spokesperson told VICE in an email. “In line with our policies, President Trump’s channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending content has been removed.”

According to Twitch, the channel recently rebroadcast the press conference where Trump announced his presidential bid in 2015. Twitch specifically cited the portion of the speech where Trump claimed Mexico wasn’t sending its “best people” to America and called Mexican immigrants “rapists.”

It also cited this full quote from the recent rally in Tulsa. “Hey, it’s 1:00 o’clock in the morning and a very tough, I’ve used the word on occasion, hombre, a very tough hombre is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a traveling salesman or whatever he may do,” Trump said at the rally. “And you call 911 and they say, 'I’m sorry, this number’s no longer working.' By the way, you have many cases like that, many, many, many. Whether it’s a young woman, an old woman, a young man or an old man and you’re sleeping.”

Trump’s campaign launched the Twitch channel in 2019. It was verified, but not a partner. Per Twitch policy, political accounts do not receive partnership benefits or monetization features. “Like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines,” Twitch said. “We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.”

The suspension comes after Reddit banned more than 2,000 subreddits, including the r/the_donald and r/chapotraphouse. Facebook is also facing pressure from advertisers amid claims that it poorly moderates hateful content.