Donald Trump has decided to join the popular social media platform TikTok in order to expand his campaign’s reach and connect with a younger audience.
Donald Trump, the former president, has recently joined the widely-used video-sharing platform TikTok. He made his debut on TikTok by posting a video from a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match. According to CNN, this comes just two days after Trump made history as the first former president and presidential nominee in the United States to be convicted on felony charges.
In the TikTok video, Trump expressed his gratitude, stating, “It is a great honor.” The video captures him alongside UFC chairman Dana White, waving to fans and taking selfies at the UFC fight held in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday night.
The following day, Trump, who is 77 years old, gained a following of over 1.1 million people on the social media platform. His post received more than one million likes and was viewed 24 million times.
Donald Trump’s first TikTok post amasses over 24 million views. — X/@Rightanglenews
Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, stated that their decision to join TikTok is an effort to connect with a younger demographic that consumes content supporting Trump and criticizing Biden.
In April, President Joe Biden enacted a law that could potentially prohibit TikTok in the United States, despite his campaign utilizing the platform in February.
According to the legislation, ByteDance has a period of nine months to sell the company. If a sale is underway, an additional three months may be granted. Failure to complete a sale within this timeframe will result in a ban on TikTok.
During his presidency, Donald Trump attempted to prohibit TikTok by issuing an executive order that classified mobile applications developed and owned by Chinese companies as a potential threat to national security. However, TikTok took legal action and the courts intervened, preventing the ban from being implemented.
Although Trump maintains his belief that TikTok poses a risk to national security, he now opposes the idea of banning the app. His reasoning behind this shift is that such a ban would inadvertently benefit Facebook, a rival platform that Trump has consistently criticized due to his loss in the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
Trump acknowledged the popularity of TikTok among its users, particularly the younger generation, stating that there are numerous individuals who genuinely enjoy using the app. He expressed concern that without TikTok, these young users would be greatly disappointed and affected.
