Donald Trump’s presidential campaign took an interesting detour today as the former president appeared on a live broadcast hosted by anchor Adin Ross. The broadcast was hosted on Kick and had more than 580,000 viewers at its peak.
Ross is a streamer known for courting controversy. At the height of his popularity on Twitch, he amassed over 7 million followers. He hosted influential figure Andrew Tate, who is currently facing rape and human trafficking charges in Romania. He has been banned from Twitch multiple times for using racial slurs, and last year was permanently blocked after users spammed racial and anti-Semitic slurs in a chat stream. Ross moved to the alternative streaming site Kick, where he continued his antics, which included hosting prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Trump’s live broadcast is likely to stir up just as much controversy. During the interview, Ross presented Trump with a Rolex watch. Shortly after giving him the watch, Ross mentioned Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, who has filed charges against Trump accusing him of election interference during the 2020 presidential election.
“I have a friend who is being treated very unfairly. [District Attorney Willis]. He’s a rapper named Young Thug,” Ross said on the livestream, referring to Williams’ racketeering case against the rapper. “I’m just wondering if there’s a way to make sure he’s treated fairly?”
Observers wondered whether Ross was trying to bribe Trump.
Donald Trump has a history of letting rappers out of sticky legal troubles. At the end of his term in 2021, Trump pardoned rapper Lil Wayne after pleading guilty to illegal gun possession. He also commuted the sentence of rapper Kodak Black, who was sentenced to 46 months in prison for lying on a federal form in an attempt to buy a gun.
Trump did not directly answer Rose’s question, saying: “He has to be treated fairly.” As details of the live broadcast spread on social media, observers wondered whether Rose was trying to bribe Trump or whether accepting such an expensive gift was constitutes some sort of campaign finance violation.
The two continued live, with Trump making one-sentence comments about a series of celebrities and politicians, including Ukrainian President Zelensky. Finally, at the end of the live broadcast, Ross presented Trump with another gift: a Tesla Cybertruck with custom packaging featuring the famous photo of Trump after he was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
At the end of the broadcast, Ross and Trump were broadcasting from a Cybertruck, and the YMCA broadcast their show.
