After the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, his number of followers on social media has seen a sudden surge. His followers have increased by millions in a week after the shooting where he lost part of his ear in the incident in Pennsylvania. Trump holds 51% more followers on Instagram than his competitor President Joe Biden.
Trump’s supporters increase by a million
Trump’s followers increased by a million after the incident from 24.9 million followers a day before the shooting at the rally on July 13 to 25.9 million users on Friday, July 19. The data shows that there has been an increase in the former president’s social media popularity since the bullet grazed his ear six days back, as reported by the New York Post. Joe Biden currently holds a following of 17.2 million followers on Instagram.
On Truth Social, Trump shared his close call with death when he wrote, “felt the bullet ripping through [his] skin”, it garnered him an increase of 220,000 followers, raising his total count from 7.11 million to 7.33 million within a week. A similar trend was followed on Trump’s TikTok account where his following leaped from 7.6 million users on the day of the shooting to 8.8 million followers as recorded on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}On Truth Social, Trump shared his close call with death when he wrote, “felt the bullet ripping through [his] skin”, it garnered him an increase of 220,000 followers, raising his total count from 7.11 million to 7.33 million within a week. A similar trend was followed on Trump’s TikTok account where his following leaped from 7.6 million users on the day of the shooting to 8.8 million followers as recorded on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}Hashtag Trump gains momentum after the assassination attempt
Thomas Moore, the director of Viralyft, analysed the momentum of #Trump gaining nationwide momentum. The hashtag on TikTok gained a viewership of 668 million while #DonaldTrump was viewed 282 million times and #Trump2024 trended with a viewership of 157 million. The data analysis also showed a surge in the phrase “How to register to vote” on Google searches by 500% nationwide within three days of the assassination attempt, as reported by the New York Post.
Moore speculated that the sudden surge in Trump’s followers on social media is a result of all the news surrounding his assassination attempt. He said the event “has connected with many [Trump] supporters across the internet.”