Washington .- U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated this Wednesday that he is the “number one on TikTok,” days after erroneously claiming that he surpassed Taylor Swift in followers on the platform. However, his account does not appear today among the 50 with the greatest reach on the application.
“I am number one on TikTok, and the only thing I do is talk about communism,” said Trump in Ankara, at the beginning of a press conference where he referred to his participation in the NATO leaders’ summit.
Trump again cited an alleged report “published recently” with “absurd” figures, he said.
The president also added that “I had never heard figures like that, but I am number one, and all those artists are in 27th or 29th place, it’s crazy.”
“I don’t even understand it myself, but my words are reaching people about how great our country is and how bad communism is,” he repeated in reference to his warnings against the democratic socialist candidates who have won in the primaries ahead of the legislative elections in November.
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The follower gap with Taylor Swift
This Monday, during an address at the White House, Trump reiterated that it had been “announced two days ago” that he was “the number one person by a wide margin” on the platform and even went as far as to compare himself to Taylor Swift, who “was in 11th place,” without specifying whether he was referring to the number of followers or national or international virality.
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While the US president has about 16.7 million followers on TikTok.
Swift, one of the most influential artists in the world and whom the Republican has criticized on more than one occasion, surpasses him by more than double, with 33.5 million.
According to the tracking tool Social Blade, the list is currently headed by content creator Khaby Lame (162.3 million), dancer and model Charlie D’Amelio (159.2 million), YouTuber Mr. Beast (129 million), the official TikTok account (94.7 million), and internet celebrity Bella Poarch (92 million).
As of this Wednesday and according to the same platform, the number 50 spot is held by Brazilian soccer player Neymar Jr. with 45.8 million followers.
TikTok under U.S. control
Last January, TikTok’s parent company, the Chinese firm ByteDance, sold the majority of its U.S. operations to a consortium of American companies following months of a long legal dispute and to ensure the app’s continuity in the country.
Among others, the functions of the US companies in the application version are data protection in that territory and content moderation.
