Behind the scenes of the Trump Show

From Atlanta to Harlem, the former Apprentice star and his staff know how to give the internet viral video moments

FWIW, this week’s newsletter is sponsored by Civic Shout

Last week, Donald Trump visited a Chick-fil-A in Vine City, a historically Black neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. The visit went viral online largely because he appeared with an adoring crowd of young HBCU students in a part of town that voted overwhelmingly for President Biden in 2020. 

The Trump campaign gleefully shared footage of the event, including a clip of one random young woman hugging the former President and saying "I don't care what the media tells you, Mr. Trump, we support you!"

Right-wing influencer Benny Johnson repeatedly shared the moment far and wide. “This shows something very special about Donald Trump—that he can relate to regular people,” he told his YouTube show. FOX News’ Brian Kilmeade emphasized that it was “unscripted” and such a random event that it “could have gone sideways.” In a later report, FOX’s Martha McCallum reacted to bad poll numbers for Trump by saying, “I guess they weren’t at the Chick-fil-A.” 

Clips of the humble restaurant visit were seen by millions. 

All of this is to say that you’d be forgiven if you thought that Donald Trump randomly walked into a fast food restaurant in a predominantly black part of Atlanta, and people swooned over him. After all, USA Today’s report on the event simply framed it as a surprise “drop-in.”

It turns out, however, that the entire scene was staged - planned in advance by a right-wing Activist Michaela Montgomery. Montgomery was the woman who hugged Trump in the video, is a protege of Candace Owens, and has a long history of working for right-wing causes. We tend to forget that despite his many shortcomings, Trump remains an extremely talented showman and former reality TV star. He is someone who understands how to choreograph his camera angles well. 

This week, after appearing in court in Manhattan, Trump staged a similar event, this time to visit a bodega in Harlem. That drop-in was planned to highlight crime—the store he visited was reportedly chosen directly by Trump due to its link to a high-profile incident involving a cashier there. 

The media covered his Harlem bodega spectacle just like they did with Chick-fil-A. The Daily Beast ran a piece titled “Trump’s Bodega Visit Should Scare the Heck Out of Democrats,” without giving any real reason for why the visit was scary. 

Again, clips from this visit received tens of millions of views on social media, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. 

Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign has repeatedly used moments like these, or like walking into UFC fights, to reach large audiences with viral video content of him interacting with adoring crowds. And as I’ve spent more time in right-wing content spaces this year, I’ve noticed the enormous amount of Trump campaign behind-the-scenes content churned out by staff or supporters daily. 

Accounts like @americafirst617 on TikTok and @realmichaelsolakiewicz on Instagram share up-close-and-personal content of the former President with his family, on the golf course, or interacting with fans. Members of his communications team - Karoline Leavitt, Margo Martin, and Dan Scavino - have built their own audiences on social media, where they regularly share behind-the-scenes images or videos of Trump, which then get reposted far and wide across the online MAGAverse. 

---

Digital ad spending, by the numbers:

FWIW, political advertisers spent just over $9 million on Facebook and Instagram ads last week. These were the top ten spenders nationwide:

Donald Trump’s criminal charges are again the focus of digital ads on both sides of the aisle. His own campaign is trying to capitalize on his latest court appearances to raise grassroots cash, running new Facebook ads that read: “I’m in court again!” On the Left, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also running acquisition ads featuring Trump’s historic trial. 

Meanwhile, political campaigns spent $3.4 million on Google and YouTube ads last week. Here were the top ten spenders nationwide:

The Last Best Place PAC, a group supporting Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in Montana, spent $51,000+ dollars this week on a “carpetbagger” attack ad against Tester’s GOP opponent, businessman Tim Sheehy. It’s a strategy that is becoming a favorite for Dems this cycle. The ads attack Sheehy for being a rich out-of-stater who just bought a ranch in Montana so that he could “play cowboy.”

On Snapchat, political advertisers in the U.S. have spent $1.1 million on ads year to date. Here are the top spenders:

 …and on X (formerly Twitter), political advertisers have spent over $1.9 million on the platform in 2024. Here are the top spending accounts:

---

Imagine paying 2-10x less for email & SMS opt-ins

If you think you’re overpaying for new donors, you probably are. Try Civic Shout and acquire fired-up opt-ins for as little as $0.75 each. Learn more >>

---

Your 2024 digital dispatch

FWIW, here’s how weekly digital ad spending (Facebook/Instagram, Google/YouTube) compares between the Trump and Biden campaigns year-to-date:

As Donald Trump’s campaign continues to underinvest in digital advertising for fundraising and other purposes, they’re trying a new strategy: grift off of other Republican candidates. POLITICO reported on Wednesday that his team is “now asking for down-ballot candidates who use his name, image, and likeness in fundraising appeals to give at least 5 percent of the proceeds to the campaign.” 

This could mean that grassroots donations to down-ballot Republicans will be going to pay for Trump’s personal criminal attorneys and legal fees. Wild. 

---

The vibes on TikTok last week:

FWIW, here’s a look at 10 of the most-liked videos mentioning Trump on TikTok in the past week:

@jasonscoopcomedy was king this week over on the Trump side of TikTok. Scoop garnered millions of views on videos of him excellently impersonating Trump outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump’s criminal trial was underway. @thedailyshow also went after Trump for his bizarre speech at Gettysburg, and Democratic TikTokker @chrisdmowrey explained Trump’s attitude in court.

Here were some of the most-liked videos mentioning Biden in the past week:

@americanahhannah, a Gen Z political TikTokker, garnered just about 3 million views on a video attacking President Biden for the horrors occurring in Gaza. More positive for Biden, however, was this video from @blackbeltbabe breaking down his administration’s actions to cancel student debt. This testimonial video from @accountablegop received solid engagement too. 

---

“We saw over 200% ROAS in two months!”

Digital Directors are talking about Civic Shout - the new list-growth platform that’s quietly becoming the industry standard. See for yourself >>

---

More from around the internet:

• In the wake of the reinstatement of Arizona’s 1864 near-total abortion ban and the political (and personal) chaos it is causing, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake released an unbelievable video where she’s straight to camera lying like a pro on abortion. Just two years ago, she gave the Civil War era ban her full endorsement. 

• The Trump campaign is paying a right-wing digital media company directly for its coverage of the campaign. Right Side Broadcasting Network, a MAGA media company with millions of followers across YouTube, Twitter, Rumble, and other platforms, was paid $50,000 by the Trump campaign in the past year, receiving $18,000 in February. It has previously been paid by Trump’s political action committee, Save America. 

• Someone turned Trump’s bizarre Gettysburg speech (in which he appears to know nothing about Gettysburg) into a mini-documentary.

---

That’s it for FWIW this week. This email was sent to 20,446 readers. If you enjoy reading this newsletter each week, would you mind sharing it on Twitter or Threads? Have a tip, idea, or feedback? Reply directly to this email.