If Twitter truly played a role in President Donald Trump's election, the website co-founder says he's sorry.
"It's a very bad thing, Twitter's role in that," the social media website's co-founder, Evan Williams, told The New York Times. "If it's true that he wouldn't be president if it weren't for Twitter, then yeah, I'm sorry."
In March, Trump told Fox News' Tucker Carlson that he has his "own form of media" through Twitter and other social media sites, claiming he has 100 million social media followers. On Twitter alone, Trump has just short of 30 million followers on his personal account and more than 17 million on his presidential account.
However, his Twitter numbers pale in comparison to many other contemporary figures. The top Twitter draw belongs to singer Katy Perry, who boasts 98.4 million followers.
Trump's predecessor President Barack Obama's numbers also eclipse Trump's, with 88.3 million people following the former president, putting Obama in the number three spot on the social media site. Singer Justin Bieber, with 94.4 million followers, holds the second place spot.
While Trump's Twitter account has gotten the most attention because of his frequent tweets, he's also a key draw on Facebook, where another 22 million follow his account.
Trump's aides, though, have held an "intervention" in hopes of persuading him to cut back on his Twitter habit, according to reports.
The Wall Street Journal reports the intervention took place several weeks ago, according to White House officials who said they feared for their own futures because of the criticism Trump has gotten over his tweets.
However, Trump has not cut back on his tweets at all, and has continued to post comments that aides have feared could "paint him into a corner," including his contention that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his offices at Trump Tower.
The president's tweets often become major news stories of their own, and allow him to present his opinions without having to rely on the media, with whom he has a contentious relationship.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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