There is a platform where Donald Trump has already won in a long-distance comparison with Joe Biden: TikTok. On the social network favored by tens of millions of young Americans, the businessman has 7.5 million followers, while the official account of the US president’s campaign has stagnated at 450,000. Posts featuring Trump at events dominate, compared to those featuring a more popular version of Biden, in the style of “Dark Brandon,” a more ruthless Biden wearing sunglasses. The businessman focuses on simple content for teenagers. The president on more political topics.
In a six-second video in which he “goes head-to-head” with wrestler and influencer Paul Logan, before the two burst into laughter, Trump’s post racked up 132 million interactions. But the one in which Biden accuses his opponent of being a liar only got 44,000 interactions. It’s not clear how many real followers Trump has, or whether there are “bots,” or fake accounts created by artificial intelligence, but the data for now is clear: the businessman’s account has far more followers than his opponent’s. In an interview with Politico, young social media star Olivia Giuliana explained how the social media platform is seeing the dominance of Trump’s content creators.
Juliana started out as a Democrat, while now she identifies as an independent, although she is still a supporter of Biden, and she can count on 670,000 followers, far more than the president's campaign. “I'm very surprised by what I see on social media – she comments – I haven't seen real anti-Biden sentiment but the awareness that Biden can't do certain things.” “On the left – Juliana explains – there is less motivation to create content.” But there is no doubt about the numbers: Trump is pulling more. “The reason – according to Juliana – is that the Biden campaign's content on TikTok is very political, while Trump's content is simpler, like 'I'm Donald Trump and I'm in an extreme artistic fight.' Everything that is simpler is more absorbing.