Former US president and convicted felon Donald Trump has gained over four million followers on tiktok barely 24 hours after joining the platform.
The former president's decision to join the platform on Saturday may help him reach out to younger people in his third presidential campaign.
He is in a tight contest with Democratic incumbent Joe Biden ahead of the November 5 presidential election.
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Biden's election campaign already has over 340,000 followers on TikTok. Still, he has signed legislation prohibiting the app, which is used by 170 million Americans, if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, fails to divest it.
Trump released a launch video to his account, @realdonaldtrump, which has received over 56 million views. The video shows Trump embracing supporters at an Ultimate Fighting Championship battle in Newark, New Jersey.
Trump said he will "use every tool available to speak directly with the American people..."
ByteDance is appealing in court the rule that mandates it to sell TikTok by next January or risk a ban. The White House wants to end Chinese ownership on national security concerns.
TikTok has stated that it would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government and has taken significant steps to preserve its users' privacy.
When he was president, Trump's attempt to ban TikTok in 2020 was blocked by the courts. In March, he said that the platform was a national security threat and that a ban on it would hurt some young people and only strengthen Meta Platforms (META.O), opening a new tab on Facebook, which he has strongly criticized.
In March, he stated that the platform was a national security concern but that banning it would harm certain young people while simply strengthening Meta Platforms (META.O), opening a new tab on Facebook, which he has harshly criticized.
Trump already has a solid social media presence, with over 87 million followers on X and over 7 million followers on his site, Truth Social, where he tweets practically daily.
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