Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump may have broken Facebook on Wednesday afternoon – at least that’s what he suggested in a brief appearance on Periscope, Twitter’s service that allows users to broadcast video live to their followers.
A little past 1:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, Trump tweeted out an invitation to join him in a 2 p.m. live chat on Facebook and Periscope. But at 2:00, people visiting his Facebook page were unable to see anything. Finally, about 15 minutes later, people who follow Trump on Periscope heard their phones buzz with a notification that the billionaire former reality television star was broadcasting live on Periscope.
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“Hello folks, it’s Donald Trump and it’s great to be with you. They’re having some very technical difficulties over at Facebook, which I would fully understand,” Trump said. “I guess they have a lot of people calling in. More than anybody would ever have expected.”
There may have been more viewers than Periscope expected, too. The stream was choppy and stalled multiple times, and users received messages throughout the 10-minute session informing them that the stream was being so heavily watched and commented on that no more commenters could be accepted.
Trump said that he plans to make these appearances on social media a weekly event, “probably” on Wednesdays. And next time, he said, he expected his partners to be prepared.
“Facebook will definitely get their act together for next time,” he promised, adding, “We have great love and respect for Facebook.”
