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.
The U.S. cannabis industry is on track to hit almost $25 billion in sales, according to New Frontier Data. Vivien Azer, managing director and senior research analyst at Cowen, and Russell Stanley, managing director and equity research at Beacon Securities Limited, join Cheddar News to give their predictions for the budding industry in 2022.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore. 3rd District), the co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, joined Cheddar's "Cannabiz" to discuss the state of marijuana legalization on the federal level as more states continue to greenlight medical and adult use. He stated that there couldn't be a better time to revise the old policies on marijuana with more than 90 percent of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, on board. "This tidal wave of support continues. There were five states that approved in the last general election, and I think, rather than one single event, it is this momentum and the demonstration of broad public support that is making the difference," Blumenauer said.
Megan Horneman, Director of Portfolio Strategy at Verdence Capital Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says there is some profit-taking ahead of the upcoming Fed meeting, and elaborates on some of the topics investors will be watching for more closely this week.
Rachel Bachman, senior sports reporter at the Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she explains how U.S. athletes have been inserted into the middle of a political debate after the country declared a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.
Lance Ippolito, Head Trader at the Future Of Wealth, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell where he discusses the factors that have contributed to the recent slide of major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether.
President Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fourth time this year. Biden and Putin spoke for two hours about the massing of Russian troops and materials near the Russian border with Ukraine. Various outlets have reported that the U.S. has intelligence that Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine in the next few months. Both countries said the call was productive, but the situation remains tense.
Hagar Chemali, foreign policy expert and host of "Oh My World!" on YouTube, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll indicated that Hispanic voters are up for grabs for the upcoming midterm elections, with 41 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Democrats and 44 percent for Republicans. Bryanta "Bre" Maxwell, a Democratic Strategist, former political director for Jaime Harrison's senate campaign, and principal and CEO of Indigo Consulting, LLC, joined Cheddar to break down the numbers and to dive into what this specific electorate is looking for as the balance of power in Congress hangs in the balance in 2022.
