Bernie Sanders launches Twitch account and is set to live stream before and after Democratic debate

Campaign says move will 'bring new people into the political process'

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has launched an account on the streaming platform Twitch as part of his strategy for the 2020 campaign.

Twitch, known for users streaming live sessions playing video games like Fortnite and Overwatch, receives an average of around 1.3m views a day.

Mr Sanders, has more 18 to 44-year-olds as part of support base than any other candidate according to recent polls and he is seeking to exploit as many platforms as possible in a crowded Democratic field.

“This campaign is about bring new people into the political process,” Mr Sanders’ digital communications director, Josh Miller-Lewis, said.

“There’s a huge audience on Twitch that has been ignored by our political leaders,” he added. “As one of the first presidential campaigns ever to join Twitch, we hope to reach people who may not otherwise be involved in politics and speak with them about the issues that matter most to them.”

The Sanders campaign is planning a recurring rollout of live videos on Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube, in which Mr Sanders and staffers will discuss the news of the day and provide campaign updates.

After Mr Sanders appears at a Democrat primary debate on Thursday, there is expected to be a pre- and post-debate show with a more regular slate of programming to follow later.

At the time of publication, the Sanders Twitch page has more than 21,000 followers, although the account itself only follows one other channel as it stands – The Washington Post.

Fellow Democrat 2020 candidate, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, joined Twitch in July last year, having announced his bid for the presidency in late 2017.

However, Mr Yang who is polling around eighth on average of the two-dozen perspective Democrat candidates only has 345 followers.