Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, now has a TikTok account. He once wanted to ban this short-video social media platform app.
Trump’s account on this platform started Saturday night. It has one post by Sunday morning. In the video, UFC CEO Dana White says, “The President is now on TikTok.” Trump adds, “It’s my honor.” The rest of the video shows Trump walking in a crowd at a UFC event in Newark, New Jersey.
The video has over 31 million views. Trump has 1.7 million followers — more than Biden-Harris’s account.
“Political candidate creates social media account” is not usually big news. But Trump’s move reminds that this short-video social media platform has 170 million US users. It’s useful for Trump, who connects with younger voters — the type on TikTok.
Trump’s stance for this social media app has seemingly changed. He tried to ban the platform as president. In May, he posted on Truth Social, “Crooked Joe Biden banned TikTok.” (Biden signed a bill to ban this app if ByteDance doesn’t sell it in a year. The owner of this app fights the bill.)
Trump’s old adviser Steve Bannon says Trump flipped due to billionaire Jeff Yass. Yass owns a big part of short-video social media platform. Trump says banning TikTok helps Facebook, “an enemy of the people.”
Joining this platform and getting 1 million followers is small. Trump had a big week — the first ex-US president convicted of crimes.
To read our blog on “TikTok features ChatGPT-powered search results shortly,” click here
