WASHINGTON • Nineteen per cent of US Twitter users follow President Donald Trump on the social platform, and a majority of those people approve of his job performance, a survey showed on Monday.
The Pew Research Centre report suggests Mr Trump's @realDonaldTrump account - with more than 60 million followers worldwide - has succeeded in developing an audience largely favourable to his comments, which often generate controversy.
The report is based on a survey of 2,388 adults in the United States who use Twitter and gave Pew permission to review their public-facing accounts between December last year and this month.
Roughly three in 10 Republican adult Twitter users follow Mr Trump, compared with 13 per cent of Democrats, Pew said.
Among users who follow Mr Trump, 54 per cent approved of his job performance as of late last year, compared with 24 per cent of users who do not follow the President.
Despite the large following, Mr Trump's direct reach on Twitter is still limited, according to Pew: Only 22 per cent of all US adults use the service, its surveys found.
And Mr Trump's reach on Twitter remains below that of former president Barack Obama, who connects with 26 per cent of the platform's users, Pew researchers found.
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30%
Approximate number of Republican adult Twitter users who follow US President Donald Trump on Twitter.
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13%
The percentage of Democratic adult Twitter users who follow Mr Trump on Twitter.
The news comes as Mr Trump draws fire for a series of tweets interpreted as attacking four progressive Democratic congresswomen of colour - calling on them to "go back" to their own countries, even though all are US citizens. Mr Trump's comments were branded "racist" and "xenophobic" by Democratic presidential candidates and senior lawmakers.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
