Topline
he Biden-Harris campaign has already surpassed the Trump campaign in followers on Truth Social, the Donald Trump-owned social media start-up, only days after joining—though Trump’s account has exponentially more followers than both.
In this photo illustration, the holding screen for the “Truth Social” platform and app is seen on … [+]
Key Facts
@BidenHQ, the account President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign created, has around 24,000 followers as of Wednesday afternoon.
@TeamTrump, Trump’s official campaign account, has around 21,000 followers as of Wednesday afternoon.
While the Biden-Harris campaign has more followers than the Trump campaign on Truth Social, Trump’s personal account, where he is extremely active, still dwarfs both accounts: @realDonaldTrump has roughly 6.44 million followers as of Wednesday afternoon.
Additionally, Truth Social sent out an email to users Wednesday promoting Biden and Harris’ account, which read “Dear Friend, Recently, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign joined Truth Social. You can find their account @BidenHQ here,” according to multiple outlets that saw the email.
The Biden-Harris campaign joined Truth Social Monday, using the popular ‘Dark Brandon’ meme as its profile picture and explaining on X, formerly known as Twitter, “We just joined Truth Social, mostly because we thought it would be very funny.”
Forbes has reached out to both the Biden-Harris and Trump campaign’s for comment, but has not yet heard back.
Key Background
Truth Social is a social media platform Trump created after he got kicked off other mainstream platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in the wake of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots. The social media companies said Trump had violated their policies by using the services to incite violence and praise those who committed violence, but all three platforms have since reinstated him. Truth Social billed itself as “free from political discrimination” and has been continually used by Trump to attack those he perceives as enemies. The fledgling platform is currently attempting to become part of a public company under Trump Media and Technology Group, but has faced accusations of fraud, which has delayed the business merger, CNBC reported.
Crucial Quote
On Monday afternoon, the Biden-Harris account made its first post: “Well. Let’s see how this goes. Converts welcome!” in a nod to the platform’s mostly right-wing users.
Further Reading
Biden Campaign Joins Trump’s Truth Social Platform: ‘We Thought It Would Be Very Funny’ (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/10/18/the-biden-harris-campaign-already-has-more-followers-on-truth-social-than-the-trump-campaign/