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.
Alex Ward, National Security Reporter at Politico, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest in a looming international threat as Russia continues aggression against Ukraine, in defiance of Western nations.
The recent Virginia and New Jersey elections are making one trend line pretty clear: voters in this climate will vote on education, and it could be a winning tactic for Republicans.
Virginia's race for governor was defined by, as the Republican candidate and eventual winner described it, "school-choice." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking a page out of Governor Youngkin's playbook for his upcoming reelection bid, over-indexing on themes of education. John Kennedy, Florida capital reporter at Gannett, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
North Korea launched its sixth missile test this month, equaling the total number performed in all of 2021. Cheddar News speaks with Bruce Klinger of the Heritage Foundation on why the regime is suddenly ramping up its weapons testing program.
More than 80 lawmakers are calling for President Biden to release a memo outlining the legal pros and cons regarding the president's authority to cancel student loan debt, the total of which sits around $1.75 trillion. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.), joined Cheddar to discuss the memo and support the push to forgive student debt that could potentially have a massive positive impact on the U.S. economy. "I think that would be really helpful for all of us to be able to see as we figure out how we can go forward," she said. "It seems like a simple thing to do, and I hope that the administration will release this memo." For her part, Sen. Smith said she believes the president does have the authority to abolish student loan debt.
Dr. Celeste González de Bustamante, professor and director of the Center for Border and Global Journalism at the Univerity of Arizona, and Dr. Jeannine E. Relly, professor and director of Global Initiatives at the Center for Border and Global Journalism at the University of Arizona, join Cheddar News to discuss the recent journalist killings in Mexico.
Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman and co-founder of Give Us the Ballot, joined Cheddar News to discuss voting protections in the United States and how his campaign is aiming to fix the issue of voter suppression. "Yes, redistricting is critical — Give Us the Ballot though recognizes it's 'redistricting, and —', because voting rights has an implication for every single election at every single level: school board, mayor, city council, House of Representatives, Senate, president," he said. Kennedy also gave his thoughts about the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.
