Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden may be gaining ground on President Donald Trump’s preferred platform — Twitter.
New data from online video analytics company Conviva shows Biden had more Twitter engagements — which include comments, likes, and retweets — than Trump. The presidential hopeful averaged 148,6000 engagements per post during the Sept. 14 to Oct. 13 period, while the tweeter-in-chief only reached 136,100 engagements per post.
While Trump has almost eight times as many followers on Twitter than Biden, the Democrat has been gaining followers at a faster rate over the last 2.5 months. And while Trump still gets more retweets, Biden is getting more likes.
Trump also still maintains a heavier presence on Instagram and Facebook, but Biden has gained more followers on Instagram than Trump over the last two months. Still, Facebook seems likely to remain more of Trump’s domain both in terms of engagements and followers.
Social media can be a way to reach younger voters, and while traditionally not the largest voting demographic, 63 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds surveyed said they will "definitely be voting" in the upcoming election according to a Harvard Kennedy School poll. About 47 percent of the demographic had the same response when they were surveyed around the same time in 2016.
Trump’s use of social media political advertising had also been widely credited for helping him win the presidency in 2016. However, Biden seems to be matching Trump dollar for dollar on Google and Facebook recently with Advertising Analytics estimating both candidates spending $50 million over the last month on digital ads for their respective campaigns, the New York Times reported.
Stephanie Akin, Politics Reporter for CQ Roll Call, breaks down
Senator Manchin's donation pool, and highlights what this support means for the conservative Democrat as well as the Republican party.
The global oil benchmark surpassed $90 for the first time in more than seven years. This comes as growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine add to concerns about the already-tight market. Jay Hatfield, Chief Investment Officer at ICAP, joined Cheddar to discuss what this benchmark means for the oil industry, and what might happen if Russia does invade its neighbor.
With the Beijing Winter Olympics set to get underway on Friday, Dan Wolken, a national columnist for USA Today, joined Cheddar News to break down the big storylines as the pandemic and international conflicts threaten to cast a cloud over the event that is aspirationally seen as a beacon of international cooperation. Wolken noted specific issues over cybersecurity for visiting athletes and disputes over human rights leading to a diplomatic boycott have been making waves even before the opening ceremony. "So you've got sort of these barbs going back and forth already between the Americans and the Chinese, and things haven't even started yet," he said. "We don't even know what's going to happen once the games start and people actually start winning medals."
We are a week away from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and China has already faced a host of problems leading up to the opening ceremony of the Beijing games. DJ Peterson, president of Longview Global Advisors, joins Cheddar News to discuss the many concerns and controversies surrounding the event.
In 2021, QAnon, the community which traffics in conspiracy theories saw a rapid growth in its numbers. As a result of vaccine rollouts, a number of conspiracies surrounding them also began to circulate which then led to the rise of "Anti-Vaxxers". As a result, the QAnon and anti-vax communities have become increasingly intertwined and the results could be costing lives. Senior Researcher at Media Matters Alex Kaplan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Supreme Court Justice Breyer has announced that he will officially retire from his post. He has served as the senior member of the more liberal wing in recent years. Now his retirement puts pressure on President Biden to decide on who will replace Breyer. Attorney and Media Editor at SCOTUS blog Katie Barlow, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
A long awaited report in the UK looking into the alleged parties held at 10 Downing Street during lockdown finds a culture of excessive drinking and a "failure of leadership" in Boris Johnson's government. Cheddar News speaks with international journalist Thomas Cole, who is closely monitoring latest developments.
While Donald Trump stated he would be willing to pardon Capitol Hill insurrectionists should he return to the presidency, the January 6 Committee issued subpoenas to 14 individuals who cast bogus electoral votes for the former president in seven states won by Joe Biden in 2020. Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large at The Daily Beast, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ongoing congressional investigation. "It is kind of crazy that every time Trump speaks, he kind of confesses a little more of what he was up to, but you really have to have proof," said Jong-Fast.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
