The Biden team starts @PresElectBiden, clashing with Twitter

Photographer: Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images

Joe Biden’s transition team skipped the switch to a new Twitter account for the presidential-election on Thursday night, while the administration, which came with the social media company, held off on its decision to reject millions of followers of the current White House .

Biden’s transition opened @PresElectBiden to begin building the following for an official account the new president would inherit at noon on 20 January. @POTUS. In a change of practice since 2017, when President Donald Trump entered office, Twitter Inc. plans to reset both official accounts of @POTUS and @WhiteHouse to zero followers for Biden.

Both accounts currently have a mass audience – about 60 million followers combined, although there is overlap. Trump got a head start in 2017 when he inherited about 12 million followers of @POTUS during President Barack Obama’s term, along with millions of followers from other official accounts. Although Trump used his personal account, @realDonaldTrump, as his social media mouthpiece throughout his presidency, Biden’s colleagues feel it is unfair that Twitter is not handing over followers with official accounts.

On Twitter, he said, “Trump’s digital director, Joe Biden, will be director of digital strategy at the White House, Rob Fleherty,” he is advocating for President Trump’s first-day administration. “If we don’t end the day with the 12 million followers that Donald Trump has inherited from Barack Obama, he has given us less than Donald Trump, and it’s a failure.”

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Biden’s personal account, @Joebiden, has nearly 24 million followers – millions less than that of @realDonaldTrump, before Twitter permanently suspended supporters who broke into the presidential capitol last week.

Twitter sees the new @PresElectBiden as an accommodation for the incoming president that helps resolve the dispute over official accounts. Followers of the temporary handle will be moved to @PUS on Inauguration Day. A Twitter spokesperson asked that the name of the plans not be confirmed, with the company aiming to support the collection and change of accounts across administrations.

Biden’s current @ Transition46 account will take over @WhiteHouse on January 20 at noon. 20. The Biden team is also launching @FLOTUSBiden for the first lady, Jill Biden, for @SecondGentleman, Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Amhoff, and @PressSecPsakiPs Jane Psyche, for the upcoming White House press. Secretary. Harris’s official Senate account, @SenKamalaHarris, will handle @VP on Inauguration Day.