Claiming that he was number one on Facebook, US President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted he is looking forward to going to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, he said, was number two. But netizens busted Trump’s claims to cite that Modi is way ahead with 44 million followers compared to 25 million of the US President.
On Instagram too, Modi is the most followed politician with worldwide 28.05 million followers while Trump has 14.57 million followers. On Twitter, though, Trump is ahead with 72.4 million followers while Modi has 53 million followers.
This is not the first time that the US President has claimed to be the number one and Prime Minister Modi number two on their popularity on Facebook. Last month in an interview to CNBC TV on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump said: “I’m No.1 on Facebook, you know who’s no.2? Modi from India”.
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will pay a State visit to India on February 24 and 25 at the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, it was announced this week.
Earlier, taking to Twitter, Trump claimed to be the number one on Facebook, citing a remark of Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the social media company. “Great honor, I think? Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that “Donald J. Trump is Number 1 on Facebook. Number 2 is Prime Minister Modi of India.” Actually, I am going to India in two weeks. Looking forward to it!,” Trump tweeted on Saturday.
According to Facebook, former US President Barack Obama’s Facebook page has 55 million followers.
Trump’s page does not feature in top 20. After Obama and Modi, Mitt Romney’s Facebook page has 9.72 million followers; Hillary Clinton’s page has 9.65 million followers; Pakistan premier Imran Khan’s Facebook page has 9.41 million followers and Turkey premier Recep Tayyip Erdogen has 9.3 million followers.
After Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the second most followed politician in India on Facebook. Kejriwal has over 8.1 million followers on Facebook.
The most followed celebrity on Facebook is ace footballer and Portugal football captain Christiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s Facebook page has 125 million followers. Other notable celebrities in the top 20 are pop stars Shakira, Eminem, Rihanna, Justin Beiber and actors Vin Deisel, Will Smith. Pop star Shakira’s Facebook page has 99.3 million Facebook followers and Hollywood actor Vin Diesel with 94.47 million followers.
Trump uses Twitter extensively too has not garnered him the most number of followers. While he does figure in the top 10 most followed accounts with 72.4 million followers, he ranks at no. 9, far behind his predecessor Barack Obama - who tops the list with 113 million followers. Trump is outranked by notable celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Rihanna to name a few. PM Modi falls at number 18 with 53 million followers. Hillary Clinton, Erdogan, Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Queen Rania of Jordan are other most followed celebrities on Twitter.
During his visit to India, Trump, in addition to New Delhi, will also visit Ahmedabad to address a joint public meeting with Modi at a newly-built stadium.
This would be president’s first bilateral visit in the third decade of 21st century and also the first after his acquittal by the Senate in the impeachment trial.
Trump is expected to get a roaring welcome by lakhs of people when he arrives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
He along with Modi are expected to deliver a historic speech in front of hundreds and thousands of people at the newly build Motera stadium, the largest cricket stadium of the world.