Image: U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pantomimes a candidate with low poll numbers as he address the audience at a campaign rally in Nashua, New Hampshire January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Gretchen Ertl
By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Not only is billionaire Donald Trump out polling the rest of the Republican presidential field, the former reality TV star has charged ahead of megastars Justin Bieber and Kanye West for celebrity mentions on social media, according to new data from the past month.
Trump raked in nearly 13.5 million Twitter mentions since Dec. 30, according to SocialFlow, a social media publishing platform. This put the real estate developer well ahead of virtually every major celebrity in the United States including Justin Bieber who brought in roughly 8 million, Kanye West with 6.2 million and Rihanna with 5.7 million.
Trump’s Twitter account (@realDonaldTrump) has more than 5.9 million followers.
“If Trump gets elected there is no doubt in my mind Kanye replaces him in 2020,” tweeted Peick (@andrewpeick) on Friday.
“Donald Trump is the new Justin Bieber,” tweeted Guess Who?! (@Vase_) on Friday.
Trump has also proved his social media clout over his fellow Republican candidates. During Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, the business tycoon commanded 36 percent of the Twitter traffic, according to data provided by the social media site. That was far more than his competitors on the main stage, even though Trump did not attend the debate.
Trump’s dominance of social media was not constant, however.
On Wednesday, Kanye West’s Twitter beef with fellow rapper Wiz Khalifa put his one-day mentions over Trump.
Even the late rock star David Bowie was a social media hero, just for one day. The day after he died, Twitter mentions of Bowie outpaced those of The Donald on Jan. 11.
(Additional reporting by Melissa Fares in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
Copyright 2015 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.
