Twitch streamer Kai Cenat made waves recently after claiming in a livestream that the Secret Service reached out multiple times, asking for him to do a live stream event for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Of course, this was very surprising and frustrating—it’s just some energetic streamer with a big online following. Not long after, sources close to the Harris campaign came out and said that there had not been any communication to that effect from Cenat.
Kamala Harris campaign team has told TMZ that they have not contacted Kai Cenat to be on a live-stream:
“We’re also told Harris campaign leadership hasn’t even had any conversation about Kai interviewing Harris.” pic.twitter.com/0w6Od93bJs
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) August 8, 2024
The confusion seems to have been based upon conversations between Cenat’s team and a third-party group, who reportedly had loose connectivity with the DNC. Those conversations appear to have happened before President Joe Biden announced that he wasn’t running for re-election and that could be part of why Cenat believed he was being approached by Harris’ team, sources familiar with the situation tell Semafor. The Harris campaign has subsequently scotched those rumors, stating they had nothing to do with any outreach or negotiations with the streamer.
Cenat had hit the end of his rope during the livestream. He ranted about how the fans were pressuring him to follow other streamers who have recently dipped their toes into political waters. Adin Ross, for instance, documented his interview with former President Donald Trump. As for Cenat, he has expressed serious reluctance to begin his involvement with any political campaigns due to a lack of interest and knowledge on the matter. He has, however, made it clear that he would prefer sticking to topics of relevance to his personal interests and areas of expertise, rather than political discourses.
This incident speaks much to the kind of communication involved in a political campaign this large, more so when third-party organizations are concerned. Indeed, such misunderstandings can pop up at any moment, leading to public confusion and unwanted controversy. While the truth about Cenat’s allegations has now been exposed, greater lessons from the incident reveal the hairy business of political outreach, much more so through modern times with the growing influence of today’s influencers and content creators.
