PHOTO’S SHOWING HOW RUTO OUTSHONE US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN YESTERDAY

With political gatherings banned in the country, politicians are trying to change their tact of engaging their supporters and remaining relevant. It seems Deputy President William Ruto has turned on to New Media and considering yesterday’s results, he’s onto something.

Yesterday the deputy president had an interview with journalist Jalang’o which was aired on New Media platforms. Coincidentally, since being sworn in on January 20th US President Joe Biden had his first formal address to the nation. It was also anchored in New Media. Let’s compare how both performed.

The White House political page where the event was aired live has 9.6 Million followers. On the other hand, Jalang’o YouTube channel has only 340,000 subscribers. By the numbers of the platforms alone, it is expected Biden’s speech would be watched by more people than Ruto’s interview. Biden is also al leader of 328.2 million Americans while the population of Kenya 52.57 million.

While all data favor Joe Biden, it was surprising to see William Ruto pull a bigger crowd than Joe Biden. During his interview which was held at Karen, at one point 19,000 viewers were live watching the Deputy president. This is far more than the 12k Joe Biden managed to attract during his first formal address to the nation.

While these data does not mean William Ruto is more popular than US President, it is a good evidence on how the deputy president is maximizing the use of New Media during these challenging times where gatherings are avoided and social distance encouraged.