Former U.S. Republican presidential candidate and ex-President Donald Trump has surpassed President Joe Biden’s campaign on the Chinese-owned video platform TikTok, just a day after creating an account. According to U.S. media reports on the 4th (local time), Trump’s TikTok account currently has around 5.2 million followers and 5.4 million likes, while Biden’s campaign account lags behind with 356,000 followers and 4.6 million likes. Trump posted a video of himself attending UFC 302 in New Jersey, which gained significant traction on TikTok.
Within 15 hours of posting the video, Trump gained an additional 2.2 million followers on his TikTok account, accumulating a total of 2.2 million followers, as reported by the congressional news outlet The Hill. The UFC video has now reached 63 million views. Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, commented on the growing support for Trump, stating that it is evidence of his increasing nationwide momentum.
On the other hand, Harry Sison, a TikTok creator with a pro-Biden stance, pointed out that Trump uses the username “RealDonaldTrump” for his account, while the Biden campaign uses “BidenHQ,” suggesting that the narrative might change if President Biden were to have a personal account.
Previously, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that could lead to the forced sale of TikTok in the U.S. due to national security concerns regarding the Chinese-owned platform. President Biden signed this law in April.
However, Biden’s campaign has been targeting young voters on TikTok since February by operating election campaign accounts, although President Biden himself does not have a personal account. It is worth noting that during his term, Trump had pursued a ban on TikTok but decided to create an account on the platform on the 1st of last month.