Former president Donald Trump joined TikTok on Saturday night—the very app he unsuccessfully tried to ban via Executive Order in 2020.
Convicted in a New York court last week of 34 counts of falsifying documents to cover up a hush money payment, the presumptive GOP nominee announced his appearance on the video platform with a 13-second clip filmed at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Newark, NJ.
“The President is now using TikTok,” UFC President White Dana Open the video. “It’s my honor,” Trump replied before footage captured him meeting and taking photos with fans Kid Rock’s American Bad Ass in the background.
In less than 24 hours since posting, Trump’s official account has more than 2.1 million followers. The video has attracted more than 36 million views, 82,000 comments, 116,000 saves and 2.3 million likes.
“I AM WITNESSING HISTORY,” one commenter wrote with praying hands and a crying emoji. “I’m happy to vote for him. My first vote will be for the goat,” another shared. “Let’s make his account the most famous account on tik tok!” commented one user whose profile photo featured the logo of the Three Percenters, a militia movement with a history of criminal activity. At least seven people associated with the Three Percenters have been indicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Chairperson Joe Biden launched its campaign page on TikTok in February, @BidenHQ, which has a total of 336.2k followers and four and a half million likes.
Trump received a warm welcome at last night’s UFC event — an organization he has been associated with for many years. But at least one UFC fan, New York Jets quarterback and quasi-vice presidential candidate on the independent ticket Aaron Rodgers, showed contempt for the former president. While many people cheered to shake Trump’s hand as he passed by, Rodgers remained in his seat and did not acknowledge his attendance.
In April, Congress passed a bill forcing its Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell TikTok or outright ban the app, which hosts about a third of US adults. President Biden signed it the next day.
As president, Trump tried to get rid of the app, citing national security concerns. However, earlier in this campaign cycle, Trump debunked the issue, blaming Biden for banning TikTok and claiming that the president “did it to help his friends at Facebook get rich more and more dominant.
To soften the harsh reaction to Biden’s move from young voters, his administration has brought in famous TikTok creators. During a visit to the White House earlier this year, Biden told a group of influential people, “Don’t jump, I need you!”
There are a lot of young people on TikTok — about six in ten Americans are under 30 — and both presumptive 2024 candidates know this. Controversy over the app’s potential ban has taken center stage this election cycle.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said they will leave “no front unprotected” in their efforts to reach young voters. “This represents continued reach to younger audiences consuming pro-Trump and anti-Biden content.”
While the majority of people who say they get their news from TikTok identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, New York Times reports that since November, there have been almost twice as many pro-Trump posts as pro-Biden posts on the platform.
Trump ended his first official TikTok by leaning closer to the camera and saying, “That was a good move, right?”
