Benzinga - by Chris Katje, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Former President Donald Trump tweeted over 59,000 times from his official Twitter account prior to getting banned in early 2021.
Now, he's back on the platform, which has been rebranded as X. His first post featured what will perhaps be known as one of the most recognizable images in history.
What Happened: After Trump surrendered at Fulton County jail Thursday and had his mug shot taken, the image quickly went viral on social media.
Trump wasted little time by sharing the mug shot on his personal account, choosing to take advantage of the viral moment. He shared a link to his campaign, started hawking "mug shot" merchandise, and called out the injustice he claims he is facing.
What made the tweet so unique, alongside it having the first mug shot from a former president, was it was the first tweet Trump has made since January 2021 when he was suspended for inciting violence in the U.S. Capitol.
But once Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022, he lifted the Trump ban by November.
Since then, Trump had refrained from tweeting. Benzinga previously shared that Trump likely had a level of exclusivity with Truth Social, a platform owned by his Trump Media & Technology Group.
“President Trump is generally obligated to make any social media post on Truth Social and may not make the same post on another social media site for 6 hours. Thereafter he is free to post on any site to which he has access,” a previous filing said.
Trump Media & Technology Group is in the midst of attempting to merge with Digital World Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: DWAC) to take the parent company of Truth Social public.
The original exclusive deal, which ended in June 2023, also said Trump was free to post from his personal account if it was political related.
Trump posted to Truth Social shortly after his tweet calling the social media platform his home.
Related Link: Trump's Lead Among Republican Voters Grows After Fourth Indictment
Why It’s Important: Trump’s return to social media could be bad news for his competitors in the 2024 presidential election. Despite 13 felony charges related to interfering with the 2020 election in Georgia (a total of 91 criminal charges across four indictments), Trump maintains a sizable lead in most Republican polls.
Trump is the ninth most followed person on Twitter with 86.9 million.
Twitter Followings Of 2024 Presidential Candidates
- Joe Biden, @POTUS: 32.1 million
- Joe Biden, @JoeBiden: 37.3 million
- Ron DeSantis, @RonDeSantis: 2.1 million
- Ron DeSantis, @GovRonDeSantis: 4.5 million
- Chris Christie, @GovChristie: 889 thousand
- Vivek Ramaswamy, @VivekGRamaswamy: 1.2 million
- Nikki Haley, @NikkiHaley: 948 thousand
- Tim Scott, @SenatorTimScott: 763 thousand
- Tim Scott, @VoteTimScott: 144 thousand
- Doug Burgum, @GovDougBurgum: 26 thousand
- Doug Burgum, @DougBurgum: 10 thousand
- Mike Pence, @MikePence: 5.7 million
- Asa Hutchinson, @AsaHutchinson: 110 thousand
- Robert Kennedy Jr, @RobertKennedyJr: 2.3 million
Ramaswamy saw his Twitter following jump after taking part in a Twitter Spaces with Musk and David Sacks.
According to Social Blade, Trump gained over 161,000 followers on Thursday and more than 320,000 additional followers on Friday.
So far, candidates like DeSantis and Kennedy Jr. have already utilized Twitter Spaces to announce their presidential campaigns and Ramaswamy has seen his rising popularity helped by Twitter Spaces and appearances on podcasts and YouTube interviews.
Trump’s return to Twitter could give him another place to call out his opponents. That is, unless, his posts are related to legal proceedings or evidence. In those instances, Judges have set up restrictions.
DWAC Price Action: DWAC shares were up 10% to $15.26 on Friday. Shares traded down in pre-market and early trading before recovering and ending the day higher. Shares of DWAC are down 49% in the last year.
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