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The former president recently adopted the platform in his bid to reach out to young voters.
By Michael Gold
Donald J. Trump has joined TikTok, the social media app he tried to ban during his presidency and recently followed as he and his campaign try to reach a younger electorate ahead of November’s general election.
Trump’s account shared his first video on Saturday night, while attending an Ultimate Fighting Championship match in New Jersey. In the message, Trump stands in the bowels of an arena with Dana White, the UFC’s general manager. The president is now on TikTok,” says Mr. White.
“It’s an honor,” Trump responds, in a stunning reversal of tone from his efforts to ban enforcement by executive order on national security grounds.
The thirteen-second video then transitions to excerpts of M. Trump entering the crowded arena and receiving a raucous, warm welcome from UFC fans as Kid Rock’s song “American Bad Ass” plays in the background.
Trump’s inaugural message is largely an extension of his campaign’s social media efforts to magnify the hero’s welcome he receives at UFC fights, where the more commonly young, male audience has a tendency to overlap with his base.
But his decision to sign up for TikTok was a surprising shift in his view of the social video app, which has about 170 million users in the U. S. and a younger audience than other social media platforms.
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