WASHINGTON — Our most recent NBC News poll asked respondents about their social media consumption, and the results told a clear story that doesn’t require 280 characters.
Twitter isn’t real life — at least when it comes to party identification and political attitudes.
In the poll, 69 percent of adults say they have an account on Facebook, 28 percent say they use Twitter, 27 percent use TikTok and 27 percent don’t have an account on any of these social media platforms.
And those who use Twitter and TikTok are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans; are more likely to be Democrats who supported Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren than Joe Biden during the 2020 Democratic primary season; and are — not surprisingly — more likely to be younger than the general population.
Check out these numbers by social media consumption:
Approve of Biden’s job as president
- All adults: 42 percent
- Facebook users: 42 percent
- Twitter users: 57 percent
- TikTok users: 50 percent
- Non-users: 40 percent
Positive feelings towards Trump
- All adults: 38 percent
- Facebook users: 36 percent
- Twitter users: 19 percent
- TikTok users: 27 percent
- Non-users: 46 percent
Prefer Democrats control Congress in 2022
- All voters: 47 percent
- Facebook users: 47 percent
- Twitter users: 65 percent
- TikTok users: 59 percent
- Non-users: 45 percent
Prefer Republicans control Congress in 2022
- All voters: 45 percent
- Facebook users: 45 percent
- Twitter users: 28 percent
- TikTok users: 35 percent
- Non-users: 45 percent
It’s all a reminder: If you’re getting your political news from Twitter, seeing what’s trending on the platform, or trying to influence the debate there — you’re missing out on a good chunk of the country.
Biden’s Great Friday
Last Friday was President Biden’s best day as president since passage of his Covid relief package back in March.
The House passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill, sending it to his desk to become law. We learned the economy created 531,000 jobs in October, with the unemployment rate declining to 4.6 percent. And on top of it all, U.S. Covid cases and deaths are down from where they were a month ago.
The question we have, almost 72 hours later, is whether the process of getting that infrastructure bill passed was worth the political cost the Biden White House and the Democratic Party sustained over the last three months.
Much like the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the process overtook the actual policy.
Here was White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on “Meet the Press” yesterday: “Well, look, I do think the voters sent a message on Tuesday. They wanted to see more action in Washington. They wanted to see things move more quickly. And three days later, Congress responded, passing the president's infrastructure bill. But a lot of work went into getting us there over the past few months.”
More Klain: “In my opinion, it's been a rough and tough year and we knew it would be. President Biden has said this all the time. We're in a yearlong effort to dig out of the holes we were left… So I understand that voters are tired. Americans are tired of how long it's taken to get the economy moving, to get Covid under control. I feel the frustration personally myself. I think everyone does. And I think that frustration wears on people. But I think what the American people are going to see is we have put in place the strategies, the actions to turn that around.”
Tweet of the day
Data Download: The numbers you need to know today
38 percent: President Biden’s approval rating in a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll.
28 percent: Vice President Harris’ approval rating in the same poll.
13.3 billion tons: The high-end estimate of underreported greenhouse gas emissions by countries around the world, according to a Washington Post investigation.
46,501,233: The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 151,223 more since Friday morning.)
757,854: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News. (That’s 3,089 more since Friday morning.)
430,927,624: The number of total vaccine doses administered in the U.S., per the CDC. (That’s 4,199,532 more since Friday morning.)
24,084,107: The number of booster vaccine doses administered in the U.S., per the CDC. (That’s 2,600,588 more since Friday morning.)
58.4 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per the CDC.
70.1 percent: The share of all Americans 18-years and older who are fully vaccinated, per the CDC.
ICYMI: What else is happening in the world
The U.S. has lifted international travel restrictions, allowing travelers from more than 30 countries to enter America again as long as they follow new requirements around vaccination and testing.
A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s new vaccine rules for larger companies.
ABC News reports former President Trump told RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in January that he was leaving the GOP to start his own party out of frustration, only to relent days later.
Politico reports that GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson is reengaging in the political scene months after the death of her husband, Sheldon.
It wasn’t just Virginia: Republicans had a big Election Day across other smaller localities too, including on Long Island, where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans.
Big Bird’s weekend tweet that the fictional bird had been vaccinated against Covid-19 sparked backlash from Republicans like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
