In an effort to secure more support from male voters before Election Day, vice-presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., played Madden NFL together on the live-streaming platform Twitch on Sunday.
“Sundays are for football! Game on, AOC,” Walz wrote in a post on X.
The pair jumped on the streaming service Sunday afternoon, during NFL Sunday games, to discuss the upcoming election.
Ocasio-Cortez opened the session explaining that her and Walz agreed to do the live-stream a couple of weeks ago when he expressed interest in doing a game stream with her. They agreed to play Madden because he used to be a football coach, and he was familiar with the game, having played it with his children in the past.
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Walz joined the stream after 30 minutes, wearing a camouflage Minnesota Vikings hat, prior to attending a campaign rally in Nevada.
The duo wasted no time in throwing jabs at former President Donald Trump and emphasized the importance of Democrats taking control of the House and keeping majority control of the Senate.
“We don’t all share the same politics, we don’t all share the same views, but the need to defeat Trump this year has been my number one priority,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
During the live-stream, Walz told Ocasio-Cortez that if he and Kamala Harris win the election, he would make her the Speaker of the House.
“We’re gonna win this election. We’re gonna make you put a gavel in your hand in the House,” Walz told Ocasio-Cortez
The two continue to game and chat about a Harris-Walz administration, with Walz eluding that they would eliminate the filibuster.
“The Senate has their own things. They have, kinda their ‘norms and their customs,’ but in order..” Ocasio-Cortez said before Walz cuts in.
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“Maybe, maybe, some of those norms, I’m just gonna say I don’t know where you stand, but I’m guessing you and I are probably the same on the filibuster?” Walz asks.
“Oh yeah, we gotta get rid of that thing,” Ocasio-Cortez replies.
The filibuster is a Senate rule that allows a minority to block legislation pending a supermajority vote.
While Harris first said she would support ending the filibuster to reinstate Roe v. Wade era abortion legislation in 2022, she has since made abortion a major issue in her Democratic bid for the presidency this election cycle. She also supported ending the filibuster to pass the progressive Green New Deal climate legislation in 2019.
Walz and Ocasio-Cortez also talked about the importance of access to Social Security, bonding over their mutual losses of their dads when they were teenagers.
“Gov. Tim Walz and I both lost our dads when we were teenagers. A lot of people don’t know that Social Security also helps you if you lose a spouse (or parent, if you’re a kid). It’s so important we defend and expand it,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X following the live stream.
During a campaign rally in North Carolina earlier this month, Walz claimed that his mother has to wait for her social security check every month to feed herself and that Trump and all his “rich friends” don’t care or even worry about Social Security.
“When my mom looks for that Social Security deposit to be made in her bank account, that’s how she’s going to feed herself. That’s how she’s going to get things done. He [Trump] doesn’t give a damn if his Social Security check comes or not,” Walz claimed.
Walz touted that a hundred million Americans under Kamala Harris as president would see a tax cut.
Walz and Ocasio-Cortez finished their game after playing one half. Walz played for the Minnesota Vikings, while Ocasio-Cortez played for the Buffalo Bills. The final score was 0-0.
Walz then campaigned in Las Vegas. He attended a “Latinos con Harris-Walz” get-out-the-early-vote event and watch party for the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs game with Congressman Steven Horsford and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez on Sunday afternoon.
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The Harris-Walz campaign said they have placed an emphasis on building a network of trusted allies to mobilize their male-driven audiences – including a program called, “Athletes for Harris,” which is co-chaired by NBA players Stephen Curry and Chris Paul, and former NBA legend Magic Johnson.
During an interview with NBC News last week, Harris dismissed her diminishing support among male voters who pressed her on why former President Donald Trump had a 16-point lead over the vice president in the key voting bloc.
“Why do you think there is a disconnect for you with men right now?” NBC’s Peter Alexander asked Harris during an interview in Michigan that aired on Saturday.
An NBC poll conducted in early October found that while Harris leads Trump among women voters, 55% to 41%, Trump leads Harris 56% to 40% among male voters.
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell also called out Harris’ issues with male voters during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press” earlier this month.
Fox News’ Hanna Panreck and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
