How Biden can catch up to the 5.7M TikTok followers Trump amassed
President Donald Trump made a monster debut on TikTok this week, earning 5.7 million followers in just five days with 94 million views on just one video. The account also has 6.1 million likes. The former president went live on Saturday night ahead of a UFC fight in New Jersey, appearing live with UFC president Dana White who announced 'The President is now on TikTok.'
The video flashes to Trump's walk-on to the UFC event, as Kid Rock’s song 'American Bad Ass' plays in the background and the former president waves to fans and takes pictures with them. Trump's debut far surpassed the Biden campaign's TikTok account, which only has 362,800 followers. The entire account, which was made public in February to mark the Super Bowl only has 4.7 million likes. Trump celebrated his success in a statement sent to reporters.
'No one shows up to see Joe Biden speak in person and they certainly don’t want to watch him on TikTok,' Trump said. 'We are going to use TikTok to connect with young voters and show them how my plan will Make America Affordable Again!' Democratic social media strategists and influencers said that comparing Biden's campaign account with Trump's account was not a fair comparison.
'Campaign accounts are totally different than the accounts of principals in terms of engagement and followers,' social media influencer Keith Edwards said DailyMail.com, when asked to compare the two politician's presence on TikTok. Edwards suggested that a better comparison with Biden would be the TikTok created by the Trump aligned SuperPAC, @MAGA, which only has 17,800 followers and 182,200 likes.
But some conceded that Trump's debut on the platform was impressive, suggesting his popularity on the platform might be due to his opposition to a TikTok ban that Biden signed into law. 'The former president joined TikTok at a time when many young users on the app are frustrated with the Biden Administration, whether due to foreign policy or the pending ban on TikTok ,' Democratic influencer Johnny Palmadessa said to DailyMail.com.
Palmadessa said it 'made sense' for Trump to join the platform, even though he had reversed his position on TikTok after trying to have it banned during his first term as president. But he did not advise Biden to follow Trump's lead. 'President Biden’s campaign joined TikTok on behalf of their team, not the president, and I wouldn't suggest an account be created in the name of the president ,' he said. 'Instead, I would recommend creating an account for Vice President Kamala Harris .'
Palmadessa theorized that young Democrats liked Harris, and that she could be more popular than both Biden and Trump on the social media platform. 'In my travels, I've met countless young voters who, like myself, adore her,' he said. 'TikTok would be a great space for her to further connect with those voters — I think she would greatly outperform both President Biden and former President Trump.' Trump's debut outperforms popular Democrats on TikTok, including Sen. Bernie Sanders who has 1.5 million followers.
Rep. Jeff Jackson, a congressman from North Carolina, is the most popular Democrat on TikTok with 2.2 million followers on the platform. His reputation dipped in March after he voted for the bill that would lead to a ban on the platform, but he still commands a strong viewership. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only has 985.700 followers on TikTok. Republican strategists recognized that Trump's debut outperformed expectations, but said that Biden, 81, would struggle to find popularity on TIkTok. Zach Henry, a strategist who ran social media for Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign said it was difficult to make Biden popular on a social media platform for young people.
'You can't make a bumbling octogenarian relatable to Gen-Zers,' he said. 'They can push all the Dark Brandon memes they want, but it won't move the needle with the youth.' Henry helped Ramaswamy build an online following during his presidential primary campaign that ended in January. Ramaswamy, who berated TikTok as 'digital fentanyl' from China dropped his opposition to TikTok after learning of its power to communicate with young voters. Trump made a similar reversal, which Henry said would benefit his campaign. 'After he came out against the U.S. ban, it was the logical next step,' he said. 'It will provide a nice medium for him to speak to Gen Z while he’s on X/Twitter hiatus.'
