Grindr reported several outages at the first-ever RNC midterm convention on Wednesday
Grindr, the world's largest LGBTQ+ dating app, reportedly went down as the Republican National Convention's midterm event began on Wednesday.
According to Downdetector, the app reported several outages just as the conservative event kicked off at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas ahead of the speech of Donald Trump, whose marriage to Melania Trump is at its lowest point due to a 'disturbing truth'..The highest number of reported outages appeared to occur in and around the Dallas area.
"Man, I should become a Republican," joked one person on X. "Well, they say it's a big tent," posted another person. It comes after Trump's furious 5-word outburst at his pilot before storming off was exposed by a lip reader.
A similar incident was reported during the 2024 RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "If that's the case, it aligns with Grindr activity during previous national conventions," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Former Republican New York Congressman George Santos jokingly called the RNC the "Grindr Super Bowl" in a video posted to X. "Let me tell you something, just come out the closet, boys. Come on, it’s fun! You can be gay and conservative."
"But, look, Grindr’s already outing you anyway based on the hits, and guess who’s in town? It’s all you conservatives. Bye!" In the same video, Santos said he met his husband, Matt Gerard, on Grindr. "I'm openly gay, no qualms about it, proud conservative Republican."
After the 2016 RNC in Cleveland, a Vice article cited Grindr data showing that user traffic in the area around the convention's main hub increased by 66%. Other Grindr hotspots like Times Square, Capitol Hill, Disneyland, and South Beach, Florida, saw no comparable increase in user traffic at the time, according to the outlet.
Some observers have noted that these purported data spikes reveal a disconnect between public partisan rhetoric and individual behavior. Democrats also use the app during their conventions.
The Vice article reported that Grindr saw a 148% increase in activity around the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia during the week of the 2016 Democratic National Convention. However, Grindr profiles during DNC events tend to have real profile pictures, unlike those at the RNC, which are typically blank.
A Grindr user told MSJ that on a normal day, you'd encounter maybe 10 users with no profile picture, but during the 2024 RNC, he saw at least 50 blank accounts.
Hasan's cameo
Controversial left-wing Twitch streamer, Hasan Piker, made a surprise appearance at the event when a shirtless selfie of his suddenly appeared on the big screen.
A flabbergasted Piker reacted to the incident during a livestream. "No f--king shot!" Piker said, laughing as he reacted to a clip featuring him. "They f--king posted the meat pic! No!
"They f--king posted the meat pic at the f--king Trumpalaooza!" The streamer grabbed his chest, as if in pain, as he joked about his crotch being blurred in the photo.
Piker has weighed in on Texan politics before, throwing his support for Democratic Senate candidate and state Rep. James Talarico over Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who spoke at the convention on Wednesday.
Piker has become a controversial figure within the Democratic Party after boosting several socialist candidates ahead of the midterm elections. "My job is not to make the Democratic Party look good," he told Fox News. However, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin described the recent attention on Piker as an "irrelevant distraction."
"I don’t even know if Hasan Piker considers himself a Democrat. I know he attacked me for campaigning with Callie Barr, Sean McCann, and other Democrats in Michigan. I think all of that is an irrelevant distraction," Raskin said on Meet the Press.
It comes after Melania's team broke their awkward silence on Donald's 'obsessed' assistant Natalie.
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