Trump only 4th-most-talked-about Republican online, behind Ted Cruz and Ron DeSantis, data says
- Donald Trump is losing his dominance over online political discussion, per an Axios article.
- It cited data from NewsWhip on the most-talked about US politicians.
Former President Donald Trump is losing his dominance over online political discussion, according to a new set of data ranking three Republicans higher than him.
In data compiled for Axios, NewsWhip compared politicians by the average engagement news stories about them generated on social media.
Topping the list was Sen. Ted Cruz, with 2,300 average interactions on a story. The next Republicans on the list were Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at 3rd with 1,700, and Gov. Ron DeSantis 5th with 1,200.
Then came Trump, with 1,000.
Democrats featured too, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 2nd after Cruz, Rep. Rashida Tlaib at 4th and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 6th.
The figures topping the list are polarizing figures who are not in position of especial power in their parties, but command a lot of attention, often in the form of being attacked by their political opposites.
The most objectively powerful figure on the list, President Joe Biden, was only tenth.
Trump may be unhappy that two Republicans who could fight him for the 2024 nomination — Cruz and DeSantis — were placed above him in the ranking that he may once have topped.
But given that Trump has been banned by mainstream social media sites and left office in scandal, his continuing to rank so highly is testament to his continued hold over online audiences.