Topline
Though banned from Facebook for the next two years and Twitter permanently, former President Donald Trump still benefits from easy access to a large social media audience as he continues to receive boosts from allies, including family members, who help his messaging reach millions every month.
CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 21: Republican presidential candidate Donald embraces his son Barron Trump ... [+]
Key Facts
Members of the Trump family, including the spouses of his three adult children, earned over 6.3 million interactions on posts and nearly 44 million views on videos shared on Facebook over the past month, according to data from CrowdTangle, an analytics tool owned by Facebook.
The majority of the activity came from three family members—Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Lara Trump—all of whom frequently promote Trump's policies and public appearances on their pages.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., provides by far the biggest platform for his father’s political agenda, clocking an average of over 7.6 million interactions on his posts each month since March (a number deflated by the relatively low 5.4 million recorded last month) and sometimes ranking among Facebook’s most popular posts of the day.
Posts from Don Jr.’s page over the past week include a video entitled “Did My Dad Just Drop A Huge Hint About 2024?”, “My Father’s Final Address As President...Wow” and “Weak Joe Biden Just Gave Russia A Huge Win.”
Lara and Eric Trump, who are married, have similarly kept up Trump’s familiar attacks on the mainstream media, Biden’s border policy and Hunter Biden.
Surprising Fact
Because of boosts like these, Trump’s message can reach social media audiences comparable in size to those he commanded while still on Twitter and Facebook, a New York Times analysis published Monday found. In fact, the outlet found 11 of the 89 statements Trump has published online since he was banned from mainstream social media sites have attracted “as many likes or shares as the median post before the ban, if not more.” For statements attacking Democrats, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, circulation came largely from right-wing news outlets and conservative pundits like Jenna Ellis, a lawyer who led pro-Trump election fraud challenges. Meanwhile, criticism of conservatives earned pickup from both the left and the right, The Times found.
Crucial Quote
“One thing that became immediately clear: Mr. Trump’s most ardent supporters continue to spread his message—doing the work he has been unable to do himself,” read the analysis.
Key Background
Trump was banned permanently from Twitter and suspended “indefinitely” from Facebook in the days following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Facebook last week revised its ban to last just two years following feedback from Facebook’s Oversight Board, which criticized Trump’s open-ended suspension. The platform will consider his return in January 2022, with top Facebook executive Nick Clegg explaining the decision will depend on whether Trump foments violence online (spreading lies has no bearing on whether a public figure can be booted off the site, Clegg said). Without these platforms, Trump has been relying on press releases blasted out over email. A blog he launched to fill the social media void was shut down earlier this month after Trump was reportedly angered by reports of its measly traffic.
Further Reading
“Trump Offers No Clear Plan For Getting Around Big Tech Bans: ‘We’ll See What Happens’” (Forbes)
“Trump Shuts Down Much-Hyped Blog” (Forbes)
“What Happened When Trump Was Banned on Social Media” (The New York Times)
