PATHETIC: Joe Biden’s Staff Is Crying Like Little Babies Because Twitter Won’t Let Joe Biden “Inherit” President Trump’s Twitter Account Or His Followers
The team of President-elect Joe Biden is angered that Twitter will not let the new Democrat president “inherit” the official Twitter account of President Donald Trump or his over 33 million followers on the platform.
The social media giant announced in a blog post that the Democrat president will begin with a new account with zero followers and will have to build his own following as the tweets of President Trump’s official account (@Potus) will be archived under the public name @POTUS45, following through the practice done during the transition from former President Barack Obama in 2017.
“As Twitter will serve as both a venue for people to watch and talk about this political event, and play a key role in facilitating the transfer of official government communication channels, we want to be transparent and clear about what people should expect to see on the platform,” Twitter, who has received heavy backlash for censoring President Trump’s personal account said in its announcement.
The social media said as President-elect Biden is sworn in on January 20, Twitter will facilitate the transfer of institutional White House Twitter accounts, including: @WhiteHouse, @Potus, @VP, @FLOTUS, and @PressSec to the new admin.
“@Transition46 will become @WhiteHouse, @PresElectBiden will become @POTUS, @SenKamalaHarris will become @VP, @FLOTUSBiden will become @FLOTUS, and @PressSecPsaki will become @PressSec,” it said.
For the first time, the Biden administration will also manage a new account @SecondGentleman which will become the official account of Harris’ spouse and the country’s first-ever Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Twitter, noted however, that despite the transition in the name of the Twitter handlers, the new administration will not “automatically retain” the followers from the accounts of the former Trump administration.
“These institutional accounts will not automatically retain the followers from the prior administration,” it said.
“People on Twitter who previously followed institutional White House Twitter accounts, or who currently follow relevant Biden or Harris Twitter accounts, will receive in-app alerts and other prompts that will notify them about the archival process, as well as give them the option to follow the new administration’s Twitter accounts,” Twitter added.
Biden’s team dismayed
Biden’s team was dismayed with Twitter’s decision calling it “absolutely, profoundly insufficient.”
Absolutely, profoundly insufficient.https://t.co/417reFEEYW
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) January 15, 2021
A furious Rob Flaherty, Biden’s digital director, said Twitter is “bending themselves over” and breaking away from protocol, while other social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube will all be transferring the existing subscribers from the current White House channel.
On inaug day:
-FB is transferring @JoeBiden's followers over to POTUS
-Snap is handing us @WhiteHouse
-YT is giving us all of the @WhiteHouse Subs
-Twitter is starting us at zero…but recommended the President of the United States tag other accounts to encourage growth
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) January 15, 2021
“On inaug day: FB is transferring @JoeBiden‘s followers over to POTUS, Snap is handing us @WhiteHouse, YT is giving us all of the @WhiteHouse Subs. Twitter is starting us at zero…but recommended the President of the United States tag other accounts to encourage growth,” Flaherty announced.
They're bending themselves over backwards to break with the 2017 protocol they set on the transfer of accounts, and also breaking with every other social platform in providing the new administration a follower base.
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) January 15, 2021
“They’re bending themselves over backwards to break with the 2017 protocol they set on the transfer of accounts, and also breaking with every other social platform in providing the new administration a follower base,” he added.
While claiming that the existing @Potus account of President Trump has “rando bots and trolls,” Flaherty insisted that since it is a government account, the followers should be transferred to Biden.
There's a lot of ~~normal~~ people who follow the President in the same way they follow…The Rock or Demi Lovato. It's actually a pretty normal early behavior in joining a social network! It's why the account is a public good. https://t.co/XouZvLIJM5
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) January 15, 2021
“There’s a lot of ~~normal~~ people who follow the President in the same way they follow…The Rock or Demi Lovato. It’s actually a pretty normal early behavior in joining a social network! It’s why the account is a public good,” Flaherty said.
Sure, plenty of rando bots and trolls, but also, plenty of folks who don't really engage in politics. Plenty of hate follows. Who knows! It's why Twitter moved the followers over from Obama to Trump! It's not a political account, it's the President's account.
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) January 15, 2021
“Sure, plenty of rando bots and trolls, but also, plenty of folks who don’t really engage in politics. Plenty of hate follows. Who knows! It’s why Twitter moved the followers over from Obama to Trump! It’s not a political account, it’s the President’s account,” he added.
Responding to critics on why the ensuing Biden administration seemed “too bothered” by the count of social media followers, Flaherty said it’s all so the new Democrat president can “communicate with everyone.”
Anyway, the nice thing about Joe Biden is that he truly couldn't care less about Twitter followers. Or Twitter! But he does care about communicating with everyone in the country, whether they agree with him or not.
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) January 15, 2021
“Anyway, the nice thing about Joe Biden is that he truly couldn’t care less about Twitter followers. Or Twitter! But he does care about communicating with everyone in the country, whether they agree with him or not.”
