TikTok’s influence has become undeniable in the 2024 presidential election, with both camps leaning full force into the idea that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. But that plan hasn’t worked out so well for Republican nominee Donald Trump.
An exclusive Newsweek review of TikTok data reveals that, on TikTok, the Trump campaign is being drowned out by a wave of anti-Trump content. Over the past two months, more than 15,300 anti-Trump videos have racked up 2.6 billion views, far outpacing the 12,500 posts critical of Vice President Kamala Harris, which amassed less than half the amount of views.
Engagement metrics paint a similar picture with anti-Trump content gaining 270 million likes, shares, and comments—more than double the 102 million engagements on anti-Harris videos, Newsweek reported.
According to a Pew Research Center study published last month, 40% of young adults under the age of 30 regularly get their news from TikTok, up from just 9% in 2020. While the Harris campaign went all-in on TikTok early to try to win over the growing number of young people who get their news from the short-form video-sharing app, the Trump campaign was left in their dust and has been playing catch-up ever since.
Despite its so far grim showing, the Trump campaign maintains an optimistic view. “President Trump has attracted a highly engaged Tiktok community and audience. President Trump’s @realdonaldtrump account, our campaign’s @teamtrump account and associated hashtags have generated over 10 billion unique views on TikTok proving that President Trump has infinite aura,” Caroline Sunshine, the campaign’s deputy communications director, said in a statement to Newsweek.
Just a day after joining TikTok, Trump gained three million followers on the short video social media platform that he tried to ban as president on national security grounds. He now has 11.8 million followers. Some of his most popular videos include compilations from his rallies and meeting internet personalities like Adin Ross and Logan Paul.
The Harris team has taken a distinctly Gen Z approach, which appears to be working in their favor. Using humor and viral trends, they’ve found a way to resonate with younger audiences, which make up a crucial demographic for the party.
Turning Trump’s own mockery tactics against him in some of their most viral videos, when Hurricane Milton made headlines the Harris campaign posted a video mocking Trump’s infamous quote about a hurricane being “one of the wettest we’ve seen from the standpoint of water.” Another TikTok labeled one of Trump’s rambling speeches as “delulu”—Gen Z slang for delusional.
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