NYT Analysis Finds Many Trump Statements Spread as Far on Social Media Now as Before Bans
Statements released by former President Donald Trump have in many cases generated as many likes and shares on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as before he was banned from the platforms.
The New York Times conducted an analysis of statements Trump made on his social media accounts from Sept. 1, 2020, to Jan. 8, 2021, when he was banned.
The outlet then looked at the dozens of written statements Trump has sent via email and posted on his personal website and campaign fundraising site from Jan. 9 to May 5, which were then shared by others on social media.
“Before the ban, the social media post with the median engagement generated 272,000 likes and shares. After the ban, that dropped to 36,000 likes and shares. Yet 11 of his 89 statements after the ban attracted as many likes or shares as the median post before the ban, if not more,” The Times reported.
The paper offered the example of an Oct. 8 tweet by Trump accusing then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden of lying to voters. He pointed to his changed positions on fracking and tax increases.
Social media users liked the posts a total of 501,000 times on Facebook and Twitter.
By comparison, on March 21 Trump published a statement on his website saying, “We proudly handed the Biden Administration the most secure border in history.
“All they had to do was keep this smooth-running system on autopilot. Instead, in the span of a just few weeks, the Biden Administration has turned a national triumph into a national disaster. They are in way over their heads and taking on water fast.”
The statement was liked and shared 661,000 times.
“Mr. Trump’s most ardent supporters continue to spread his message — doing the work that he had been unable to do himself,” The Times said.
The outlet gave a second example of Trump deriding Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a February statement.
“Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again. He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country,” Trump said.
President Trump going after Senator Mitch McConnell: “Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again.”
Trump says his “only regret” is endorsing McConnell in his re-election bid in Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/z96skLJSVW
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 16, 2021
The statement was shared over 345,000 times by supporters as well as leftist media personalities such as CNN’s Jim Acosta and PBS’ Yamiche Alcindor.
However, social media companies have not allowed the topic of election fraud to gain nearly as much traction.
“Before the ban, Mr. Trump’s [election] posts garnered 22.1 million likes and shares; after the ban, his posts earned 1.3 million likes and shares across Twitter and Facebook.”
Last week, Trump responded to Facebook’s decision to keep its ban in place until at least 2023, calling it an insult to his tens of millions of supporters.
NEW: Trump response to FB suspension:
“Facebook’s ruling is an insult to the record-setting 75M people, plus many others, who voted for us in the 2020 Rigged Presidential Election. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away w/ this censoring & silencing, and ultimately, we will win.” pic.twitter.com/PnD69HEa4e
— Jennifer Franco (@jennfranconews) June 4, 2021
“Facebook’s ruling is an insult to the record-setting 75M people, plus many others, who voted for us in the 2020 Rigged Presidential Election,” he said.
“They shouldn’t be allowed to get away [with] this censoring [and] silencing, and ultimately, we will win.”
This article appeared originally on Patriot Project.
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