TikTokTrends Week: 17
November 16th - 23rd
Hi!
Welcome to week 17 of TikTokTrends!
One day late, yet again…
This week I will be talking about #RudyGiuliani, #VoterFraud, and #FreshPrinceReunion.
Let's start!
#RudyGiuliani
This seems like it will never end. Another week has gone by, and we are still talking about unverified voter fraud claims. This week Rudy Giuliani made headlines with the bizarro press conference where he and the Trump Campaign legal team claimed many issues that resemble QAnon conspiracy theories. News organizations called the press conference Fact-Free, and a 'meltdown' as Giuliani was seen talking through the dripping substance from his hair.
The one-of-a-kind press conference, held on November 19th, was not at a landscaping company in Philadelphia as it was the week prior; instead, it was at the RNC headquarters in Washington D.C. On TikTok, Giuliani got thousands of videos made about the substance dripping from the sides of his head. The substance was reported by Snopes as 'unidentified.'
The video above was watched over 1.5 million times. It shows the dripping substance from Giuliani's hair that the content creator and many others called hair dye. Videos like these were shared all over TikTok, using hashtags like #WhatIsThis and a popular song called 'Drip Like Me' by Kenndog, which features the lyrics: "I'm sorry for drippin', but drip is what I do…"
Republican content creators were mostly silent about this conference and the spread of misinformation. However, left-leaning content creators were seen posting videos of Giuliani and their opinions on recent news about voter fraud cases.
Last week videos of another Giuliani press conference went viral on TikTok that featured a landscaping company called 'Four Seasons Total Landscaping.' The exact reason for the mix-up is still unknown, but what is known is that the Giuliani team had a press conference in front of a garage door of the business called Four Seasons Total Landscaping. The company has since capitalized on the media coverage of the mix-up, creating merchandise with slogans like "Lawn and Order" and "Make America Rake Again." Parody videos, comedy sketches, and opinion videos of the mix-up went viral.
#VoterFraud
During the press conference mentioned above, not the one at the landscaping company but the one at the RNC headquarters, Giuliani and then-Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell went on unverified and misinformation filled rants. Numerous sources have fact-checked each claim made during the press conference, so I will not be getting into that here.
The video above was shared by a member of the Conservative Hype House, Cam Higby. I have featured Higby's videos in this newsletter in the past and have fact-checked some of his claims. Today I will be talking about how Higby is spreading misinformation while fact-checking a claim online.
Higby starts the video by pointing out his factual dispute about this tweet posted by David Leavitt, a journalist. The tweet features a video excerpt from Sidney Powell's speech during the press conference and has written, "Trump's lawyer said that Hugo Chavez, who died seven years ago in 2013, helped Joe Biden steal the election." Higby's factual dispute is about the comments that Leavitt has made. Saying that, Leavitt should have listened to the video he shared before tweeting about it.
Higby here is sort-of correct; in the video, Powell does not say that the deceased Hugo Chavez helped Biden during the 2020 election. She does imply that the voting systems we use today were engineered by Chavez, hence saying that there was a "massive influence of communist money through Venezuela, Cuba, and likely China." Powel continues to say that the Smartmatic voting software, which she claims was widely used in our elections, was founded in Venezuela at the direction of Hugo Chavez. So no, Powell did not say that Chavez helped the 2020 election directly; she did imply that Chavez created the systems for his own benefits, and those systems were used in the election, all of which is not true.
Higby then continues to defend the comments that Powell has made. He says the Smartmatic voting system was created in Venezuela, popping up a Wikipedia article in the background for a split second to make it more believable. The Wikipedia article states, "Smartmatic was officially incorporated on 11 April 2000 in Delaware by Alfredo José Anzola." Also stating that the group of three engineers began collaborating while working in Caracas, Venezuela, but the company was not formed there.
Higby continues to say that the Smartmatic systems were used in Venezuela in the direction of Hugo Chavez. The Associated Press fact-checked this claim. In the fact-check, it is reported that there were accusations of the company rigging the election in Venezuela; however, AP reports that these claims were unsubstantiated, and Smartmatic accused the Venezuelan government of election fraud in 2017.
Although we can continue to dispute whether Smartmatic was rigged in Venezuela, I think Higby is purposefully missing the point here. Powell's main argument was that the Smartmatic systems have ties to the Dominion voting company that was widely used in the 2020 election. It was reported that the Smartmatic system was only used in Los Angeles County and was not used in any of the swing states that Powell is referring to. Dominion Voting has released several statements about the many accusations the company is facing.
What Higby is doing here is changing the focus. The main claim that Powell is making is trying to connect the dots between Smartmatic, Dominion, and communist countries. Powell also said there is backdoor access to the voting machines and that Dominion is somehow tied to George Soros. Again, all of which are not true.
These issues, however, are not mentioned at all by Higby. Since these claims that Powell and the legal team are making just are not true, content creators on the right have either skipped the press conference entirely or have chosen to focus on a small unrelated issue instead of focusing on all the unverified claims that were stated. All of these claims are so far off the spectrum of reality that people are having a hard time defending these unsubstantiated and unverifiable claims the Trump legal team is making.
Videos like these give a false sense of truth to the viewer. Cherry-picking an issue, and leaving the rest out, is not how fact-checking should be done. I’m not saying Higby should have fact-checked the whole 90-minute press conference with a 60-second TikTok video, but by not acknowledging the falsehoods stated in the press conference, Higby has, in a way, stated that there is nothing to dispute in the statements the Trump legal team has made.
Also, as I was finishing writing this, Powell's ties were cut with the Trump team, which shows how extreme her views and comments were.
#FreshPrinceReunion
The Fresh Prince is BACK! It is only for an hour and 15 minutes, but it is worth it. For anyone who doesn't know what I am talking about, The Fresh Prince of Bel-air was a TV show that ran for six seasons, from 1990 to 1996. The series featured Will Smith, mostly playing himself, being sent away from the rough neighborhood of Philadelphia to live with his wealthy family in Bel-Air. After 30 years, the sit-com finally had a long-awaited reunion with all but one cast member, James Avery, a.k.a Uncle Phil, who passed away in 2013.
Although I wasn't yet born when the sit-com first appeared, I remember watching re-runs on TV as a child and have watched all the episodes as I grew up. The reunion was special, filled with tears, laughter, and joy.
The video above was posted by Will Smith on TikTok. It was watched over 44 million times in a couple of days and has over nine million likes. In the video, Will Smith and Joseph Marcell can be seen reenacting one of the famous scenes from the sit-com. The comment section shows how much its fans loved the series and how much of an emotion these moments bring to people. Many people can be seen commenting on how this brought them back to their childhoods and how they miss and want the Fresh Prince to be back on TV.
As the clip grew in popularity, it was not the only Fresh-Prince related video that got a lot of attention this week. This video posted by Robert Williams is a parody of the infamous song that DJ Jazzy Jeff had created for the sit-com. Williams has taken the same beat and changed the lyrics to make it into a Covid-19 related music video.
In Other News
Charlie D'Amelio is the first to hit 100 million TikTok followers. D'Amelio, although not featured in my newsletter, is the most influential TikTok'er out there. She is seen as one of the main reasons for its popularity and is mainly known for the dancing videos she creates on TikTok. This week before reaching 100 million, the D'Amelio family posted a video on YouTube, having dinner with their guest, James Charles. The family was ridiculed for their manners and ungrateful behaviors towards their followers and their personal chef.
U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien says that the TikTok ban will take place! O'Brien has said that they are awaiting the on-going court cases and thinks that the President will use his authority to ban both WeChat and TikTok, adding that he thinks the next administration would also continue to issue the ban. The Biden administration has promised that they will review the risks surrounding the TikTok app.
TikTok is expanding its Parental Control feature. The app has written an article explaining their new parental control feature using their Family Pairing system. The system allows parents to change what their kids are seeing, searching, liking, and sharing on the app. It also can restrict comments and Direct Messages sent to and from their children. TikTok has also created a View-Only experience for those under 13.
That is all for this week! Please share this newsletter if you enjoyed reading it. And don’t be shy to send me an email about what you think I should cover, or if I have missed anything.
Thank you for reading, hope to see you next week, on Sunday!