President Trump’s brash, unfiltered personality has been dividing people for years. While some people find him rude, others see him as honest in the often phony world of politics.

What is not up for debate, however, is that the United States president is among the most “liked” and followed people on social media. In fact, those seeking to dethrone Trump in November are doing everything they can to duplicate his efforts on Facebook and Twitter.

By any metric, Trump completely overwhelms the Democratic presidential candidates on social media.

NEWS UNSPUN: If you’ve stopped trusting the mainstream media … welcome to LaCorte News. Join us to fight back against dishonest news coverage and social media censorship!

But how does he do it? What makes Trump so effective on social media? Does any Democrat truly have a chance of rivaling the president on Facebook and Twitter?

TRUMP VS. THE FIELD

The president’s biggest advantage perhaps lies in his head start. Trump, whose social media activity played a huge role in his election in 2016, has had four years to refine his approach on social media while most Democrats only now are getting their ducks in anything resembling a row.

Check out these numbers, as of last weekend:

Forget ballpark – the Democrats aren’t in the same universe as Trump.

Trump was big on social media before his election, and becoming the president of the United States certainly helps but Trump’s campaign team has spent an enormous amount of time and money growing his profiles. Trump’s rise has also coincided with a social media tide rising quickly over the last 10 years.

Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is attempting to catch up, spending roughly $1 million per day on Facebook ads for the past few weeks, according to NBC News, and outspending the Trump campaign overall both on Facebook and its sister app, Instagram. Bloomberg currently is spending roughly five times more on Facebook than Trump is, and three times more than his billionaire counterpart did during the 2016 campaign.

LaCorte News. We’re a news site that won’t make you dumber

A DIGITAL MIRROR

Most people put their best foot forward on social media, presenting a character that bears little resemblance to the flawed person who created it. Trump, on the other hand, largely is his authentic self on social media: brash, in your face, unapologetic, rude, obnoxious, funny and terrifying. Sometimes, he’s all those adjectives – and many, many more – rolled into one.

While “Trump tweets” have undoubtedly further divided an already polarized nation, they have also galvanized conservatives, including some genuinely detestable factions, against a perceived common threat: radical liberals. They have also given some people a reason to laugh at (and with) politics, something which cannot be minimized.

Look at some of these tweets:

A$AP Rocky released from prison and on his way home to the United States from Sweden. It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2019

We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi! pic.twitter.com/PDMx9nZWvw — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 28, 2019

WE WILL NEVER FORGET! pic.twitter.com/VxrGFRFeJM — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019

ALL ABOUT THE BOOK

For as effective as Trump is on Twitter, it’s on Facebook where he truly separates himself. In general, Twitter is dominated by younger demographics, whereas Facebook still is widely visited by older generations.

Regardless of platform, the mission remains the same: strike a chord.

“Part of the reason I think Trump has been successful on Facebook is he knows how to engage and entertain users. He knows how to use humor and drama in ways that a lot of traditional politicians struggle with,” Tim Cameron, a Republican political consultant who’s not involved on the presidential level this year, recently told NBC News’ David Ingram.

“You have to elicit some sort of emotion — whether that’s laughter or sadness, anger or elation — to really have people engage with your content on social media.”

But it’s not all about spewing something into the digital ether and watching the world burn. Trump’s approach to advertising on Facebook before the 2016 election was revolutionary.

“So was Facebook responsible for Donald Trump getting elected?” Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth wrote in a late-December memo. “I think the answer is yes, but not for the reasons anyone thinks. He didn’t get elected because of Russia or misinformation or Cambridge Analytica. He got elected because he ran the single best digital ad campaign I’ve ever seen from any advertiser. Period.”

Facebook also helped Trump raise a lot of money, as if he needed any more of it.

“Our biggest incubator that allowed us to generate that money was Facebook,” Brad Parscale, Trump’s former digital director and current campaign manager, told Wired in 2016. “Facebook and Twitter were the reason we won this thing. Twitter for Mr. Trump. And Facebook for fundraising.”

Trump’s social media methods, and their effectiveness, are like nothing we’ve ever seen in politics.

We’re a news site for people who don’t trust the news. Check us out daily! You can also find us on Twitter and YouTube.

GAINING STEAM

Given his numbers, Trump would be forgiven if he pumped the brakes on social media spending, even in the face of an upcoming campaign. He’s doing the exact opposite.

Last spring, after the release of the Mueller Report, Trump’s re-election campaign began circulating numerous ads on Facebook. Many were negative in nature and called for supporters to donate before a “crucial” fundraising deadline that was roughly two months away.

The ads, which slammed the Democrats for propagating the “Russia hoax” while also deflecting to different issues, communicated a false sense of urgency. The president’s supporters heeded the call.

“(Trump’s campaign is) way ahead of the field this time,” Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist told The Guardian in July. “They’re building their infrastructure and list and online fundraising more than a year before the election, even without any sort of credible challenge on the right. They are not only better positioned than the Trump campaign was in 2015, but in a much better place than any of the Democrats right now.”

Check out Ken LaCorte’s Youtube channel and hear for yourself how the mainstream press is spinning you today!

“There’s this myth that digital is for young people,” Jessica Alter, co-founder of Tech for Campaigns, a volunteer organization that is connecting Silicon Valley tech talent with Democratic campaigns, told The Guardian. “People 55 years and older have a three times higher propensity to click on a digital ad than the younger generation.”

Reminder: We still are roughly eight months away from the election. If Trump’s social media campaign already is operating at full speed, just imagine what it will look like in November.

A SERIOUS THREAT?

The reality is there isn’t a Democratic candidate capable of being Trump’s equal on social media by the time voters fill out their ballots. Furthermore, there isn’t a candidate on the left who possesses the kind of personality necessary to go toe-to-toe with Trump.

Just look at this awkward attempt by Tom Steyer:

Impeached President Trump (how did that work out?) spent 1.5 trillion dollars in tax breaks for corporations and the rich that did nothing for the economy. Could it be that something is just plain missing? Not easy to be this bad at your job. https://t.co/Pny8GK0FH9 — Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) February 12, 2020

Don’t tell any of that to Michael Bloomberg, though.

The former New York mayor, who’s worth roughly $60 billion more than Trump, is taking the fight to the president on social media. And, although Bloomberg isn’t considered a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, the 78-year-old is seeing some positive reinforcement.

Exhibit A:

Whether you like or dislike Mike Bloomberg, three things are clear: 1. His anti-trump ads are EXTREMELY effective 2. The ads are all true 3. The bully he's targeting is FINALLY getting a taste of his own medicine. https://t.co/mVFdI4JKSV — BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) February 16, 2020

“His campaign budget is virtually limitless, so he has the luxury of being able to engage on all of the campaign battlefronts,” Fernand Amandi, a Democratic political consultant in Miami who is not working for a presidential candidate this year, told Ingram.

Bloomberg isn’t nearly as aggressive on social media as Trump is. Whether that’s a wise approach remains to be seen.

“Trump will be more aggressive and more cutthroat with his campaigns. Bloomberg’s going to come more from a good place and not be as dirty,” Nick Venezia, managing director of Social Outlier, a marketing agency in Los Angeles that specializes in data-driven campaigns, told NBC News.

At this point, it’s hard to envision any of the front-running Democrats besting the president in the social game.