He lost part of his ear, but gained an armload of followers.
Donald Trump’s social media popularity has surged since surviving an assassin’s bullet at a Pennsylvania rally, data shows.
Within six days of the terrifying attack, Trump’s Instagram audience skyrocketed by one million users, with 25.9 million followers as of Friday, compared to 24.9 on July 12, the day before the shooting.
The Republican presidential candidate now boasts 51% more Instagram followers than his political foe, President Joe Biden, who has 17.2 million followers on the platform.
On Truth Social, where Trump posted he “felt the bullet ripping through [his] skin” just two hours after the startling episode, his following increased by 220,000 users within the last week, leaping from 7.11 million to 7.33 million followers as of Friday.
On TikTok, his following spiked from 7.6 million users on the day of the shooting, to 8.8 million as of Friday.
The TikTok hashtag #Trump also gained 668 million views within a week of the attempted assassination, while #DonaldTrump was used 282 million times and #Trump2024, 157 million times, according to an analysis by the social media marketing company Viralyft.
Notably, the analysis found Google searches for “How to register to vote” exploded an unprecedented 500% nationwide within three days of the shooting.
Here’s the latest on the assassination attempt against Donald Trump:
- Failed assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks researched Trump and Biden — and even a UK royal before shooting
- Exclusive: Trump gunman Thomas Crooks used bike to scout rally unimpeded
- Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Crooks wrote chilling online post foreshadowing rally shooting
- Everything we know about Trump’s assassination attempt as authorities work to uncover sniper’s motive
- What we know about Thomas Matthew Crooks, gunman who tried to assassinate Trump at Pa. rally
- Exclusive interview: Grateful, defiant Trump recounts surviving ‘surreal’ assassination attempt at rally: ‘I’m supposed to be dead’
Thomas Moore, the director of Viralyft, speculated that all of the news surrounding the event has contributed to the boost in Trump’s social media following.
Additionally, the incident “has connected with many [Trump] supporters across the internet,” Moore noted.