Former President Donald Trump has finally joined the social media platform TikTok ahead of his November election contest seeking the presidency.
As this news spread across social media, Trump’s initial post received 3 million likes over the weekend, and the former President currently has over 3.7 million followers.
TikTok Announcement
In the only video posted to his Tiktok so far, which currently has over 63 million views, Trump was introduced by Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.
“The President is now on Tiktok,” White says into the camera standing next to Trump. “It’s my honor,” Trump responded.
Trump at UFC
The video shows Trump walking through the venue at UFC 302. An announcement at a venue like this seems typical for Trump, who in the past has attended and expressed love for wrestling and the WWE.
“Launching my TikTok at @UFC 302,” the video description of Trump’s first TikTok video reads.
Outpouring of Support
Many of the top comments on the video, which got thousands or tens of thousands of likes, were all in full support of the president’s choice to be on TikTok.
“WELCOME TO TIKTOK PRESIDENT TRUMP,” one user wrote. “I’m Canadian and I want bro as president,” wrote another.
Dissenters on TikTok
Although many of the highest-rated comments were positive, there were also some who were not happy to see Trump on the platform.
“He cheated on his pregnant wife with a porn star. that’s a good man to you?” wrote one user responding to another comment calling Trump a good man.
Reversal on TikTok
Some may see Trump’s move to join TikTok as hypocritical, given that he had previously supported banning the app in the United States.
In 2020, Trump signed an executive order that would have banned the platform if it was not stopped by US courts.
Changing Tune
Trump has since went back on this stance of being aggressive in banning Tiktok. He views TikTok as a competitor to Meta, the company that owns Facebook.
“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump said recently in March.
Mixed Bag
In March, Trump acknowledged he still had concerns over the apps connections to China, which he views as being in an adversarial relationship with the US, and over data privacy.
“There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad,” said Trump.
TikTok Enthusiasm
While Trump acknowledged the potential issues with TikTok, he was also convinced that taking TikTok away would ultimately not be the correct move.
“There are a lot of people on TikTok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it,” Trump said.
Timing of Change
Trump’s tune changing on TikTok comes in the background of a movement by the current President Joe Biden and Congress pushing through a bill that would either force ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, to sell or risk the app being banned entirely.
The bill passed Congress in late April, which Biden eagerly signed when it reached his desk.
Trump’s Super PAC
While Trump’s introduction to TikTok is new, it isn’t the first time a Trump entity has made an entry into the space. In May, Trump’s super PAC also joined the platform.
“MAGA INC will not cede any platform to Joe Biden and the Democrats who are trying to destroy our country,” said Taylor Bodwhich, the CEO of MAGA Inc, in an X post. “We will ensure President Trump’s America First agenda is brought to every corner of the internet and every precinct of this country.”
Why TikTok?
Despite both Trump and Biden having a history of wanting to ban TikTok, both men‘s campaigns have a presence there, which speaks to the platform’s importance in the election.
In April, the Intercept reported that while Biden was cheering on the TikTok ban, the White House was embracing and courting TikTok influencers. It’s become a battleground for the two candidates, with the New York Times last month reporting an increasing “Trumpfication” on Tiktok ahead of the election.
