Political Leadership, Communication Strategies, and Visibility on TikTok: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Campaign

Abstract

TikTok has become an increasingly relevant space for political communication, particularly during electoral campaigns and among younger audiences. This study compares how Kamala Harris and Donald Trump used TikTok during the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, focusing on posting patterns and the formal features of content, the representation of political leadership, themes and communication strategies, and observable visibility and audience interactions. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on the 272 posts published by the candidates’ official TikTok accounts between 21 July and 5 November 2024 (Harris, n = 218; Trump, n = 54). The results reveal differentiated patterns of platform use and campaign communication. Both accounts show a high degree of candidate centrality, although Harris posted more frequently and used longer content, with humanization playing a greater role in her communication strategy. Native TikTok production and mobilization had greater relative weight in Trump’s account, while security and immigration had substantially greater thematic prominence. Donald Trump obtained significantly higher levels of views and absolute interactions, whereas Kamala Harris recorded a significantly higher engagement rate relative to views. Within Harris’s account, visibility varied significantly according to theme, strategy, and content origin, while engagement rate also varied according to communication strategy.