Just a day after mogul Elon Musk followed through on his promise to buy Twitter, it would seem that many ordinary users have followed through on oaths to quit the platform should a deal come to pass. After Musk announced the $44 billion agreement with the social media company, a noticeable drop in high-profile, left-leaning figures’ follower counts led to Twitter confirming to NBC News on Tuesday that “recent fluctuations” were organic, rather than automated bot activity. Former President Barack Obama, NBC reported, lost more than 300,000 followers after Musk’s announcement. Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez all experienced five-figure drops of their own, according to tech entrepreneur Christopher Bouzy. Conversely, conservative personalities were able to revel in a follower boom, with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeting on Tuesday afternoon how it “really is something how conservative accounts are getting massive follower increases today,” after gaining more than 25,000 new followers in a day. Similarly, by Tuesday evening, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) had found his follower count boosted by nearly 100,000 people, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had gained more than 50,000 fresh followers.
