Outgoing President Donald Trump has attracted more than 200,00 followers and likes on Twitter and Facebook since Wednesday, analytics show.
The surge in social media attention came as the platforms took the unprecedented step of locking Trump's accounts this week in response to multiple posts he made as a large mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Trump gained 166,073 Twitter followers on Wednesday alone, according to Factba.se, a platform archiving the president's online activity. That was easily the largest boost since November 7, 2020, which was the last day he enjoyed a six-digit rise.
And the figure appeared to still be steadily increasing on Thursday, with Trump's Twitter account picking up more than 30,000 new followers at the time of writing.
Statistics compiled by a separate analytics platform, SocialBlade, suggested the Twitter count rise had been even higher on Wednesday, recording an increase of over 176,500 accounts. Previously, Trump's follower numbers were showing signs of decline.
Trump's collective social media following was even larger with Facebook in the mix, with his official page growing by an additional 13,255 likes on Wednesday, SocialBlade said. At the time of writing, it had spiked by 47,158 additional likes on Thursday.
In total Trump's Facebook and Twitter base grew by around 180,000 Wednesday. Taking this morning into account, it expanded by roughly 213,000 followers and likes.
Still, according to Factba.se, Joe Biden's Twitter following grew significantly larger than Trump's this week. On Wednesday, the president-elect gained 355,000 new Twitter followers, and had amassed over 100,000 more on Thursday morning.
For Trump, the attention came as a handful of his posts were deemed to have broken social media platforms' policies, and his accounts were temporarily silenced.
One of the removed posts was a video in which the president said rioters were "very special," while another doubled down on false claims about election fraud.
"We made the decision that on balance these posts contribute to, rather than diminish, the risk of ongoing violence," Facebook executives said in a blog on Wednesday as footage of the violent pro-Trump siege was being broadcast worldwide.
Around the same time, Twitter locked the president's account and said it would remain inactive until the policy-breaking posts, including the video, were deleted. Labels on the offending posts suggested Trump, or an account holder, then removed the posts.
In a statement, Twitter said that future violations by Trump would result in a permanent suspension, and slapped the president with a 12-hour-long ban on tweeting. Facebook uncharacteristically went further, enforcing a "24-hour feature block."
Despite false claims of fraud and rigged outcomes, Trump officially conceded that he had lost the election on Thursday and pledged an "orderly transition," according to a statement attributed to Trump by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
