Vice President Kamala Harris made a splash when she launched her TikTok account this week, but it still wasn’t enough to shake former President Donald Trump’s sizeable hold on the platform.
Harris launched her TikTok account on Thursday, which has now garnered over 2 million followers in just 24 hours and over 6.3 million likes on her profile. Though the numbers are sizeable, Trump’s social media presence significantly surpasses Harris, boasting over 9 million followers and nearly 24 million likes on his profile since launching his TikTok debut on June 1.
@kamalaharrisThought it was about time to join!♬ original sound – Kamala Harris
“Well I’ve heard that I’ve been on the For You page, so I thought I would get on here myself,” Harris said in her first TikTok post. Harris’ page also features her cameo in the hit TV show “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” where she stopped by in the “werk room.”
Since Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, her campaign has become the focus of many Gen Z related trends like “brat girl summer,” referring to Charlie XCX’s new album “brat.”
The official endorsement came from XCX’s account on X, where she said “kamala IS brat.” Since then, Harris has gone as far as rebranding her campaign account on X to mimic the branding of XCX’s album, showing an effort to lean into the trend.
kamala IS brat
— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 22, 2024
Harris’ campaign bio on X, that reads “adding context,” is also a reference to a frequently-memed speech she cackled through during a May 2023 White House swearing-in ceremony of Commissioners for the White House initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics.
The statement left many onlookers confused, which sparked a slew of ironic memes and online trends that clipped, quoted and poked fun at the presidential hopeful.
“Part of the extension of the work you will do is, yes, focused on our young leaders and our young people, but understanding we also then have to be clear about the needs of their parents and their grandparents and their teachers and their communities, because none of us just live in a silo,” Harris said during the ceremony. “Everything is in context.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” Harris said during the ceremony. “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
This statement quickly became a meme online, flooding social media feeds with remixes and edits of the clip.
@temhota36 #charlixcx #brat #fyp #viral ♬ Apple – Charli xcx
Trump has amassed over 9 million followers and over 23 million likes and nearly half a billion views across just five posts. Across Harris’ four posts, she has garnered nearly 57 million views and just over 6 million likes.
In his first post alone, Trump got over 165 million views, over 9 million likes and nearly 300,000 comments.
@realdonaldtrump Launching my TikTok at @UFC ♬ original sound – President Donald J Trump
Although Trump’s social media presence on TikTok has outperformed Harris’, media outlets have fawned over her’ social media debut and trendiness.
Politico praised Harris’ campaign approach on social media, noting that her videos are “largely served up by Gen Z” which is a “critical bloc of voters that’s been lukewarm on Biden.”
When it comes to Trump’s social media presence, rather than focusing on the efficacy of his campaign, outlets instead pick apart his policy record.
Many outlets have cut straight to the criticisms, calling Trump out for joining the platform given his previous calls to ban the app, even though the Biden-Harris administration signed a bill into law that would potentially ban the platform altogether.
Harris and Trump’s campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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