Headline
In the year 2024, Elon Musk's posts on the platform earned the most likes, and the majority of them revolved around Donald Trump.
The most popular posts on X in 202x originate from its billionaire proprietor Elon Musk and all focus on President-elect Donald Trump, mirroring Musk's use of his social media platform to boost Trump, whom he financially supported in the election.
Core Facts
The most popular X post of that year is an Associated Press image shared by Musk depicting a bloodied Trump raising his fist following a failed assassination attempt against the Republican nominee in Pennsylvania in July; this post amassed over 3.4 million "likes" on X and features no text.
This image is also Musk's second most popular post on X, trailing only a humorous remark he made about purchasing Coca-Cola in 2022; it is also X's seventh most popular post overall.
Musk's second most popular post, with 2.6 million "likes", was posted shortly before the election's outcome was declared and shows Trump conversing with Musk and UFC President Dana White; the caption reads, "The future is gonna be so [lit]."
The third most popular post, earning 2.4 million "likes", was posted on Nov. 6 and celebrates Trump's election victory with a photo of Musk saluting an American flag and the text, "It is morning in America again."
Musk's tweet including a video of Trump raising his fist as he publicly endorsed his campaign for the first time garnered 2.3 million "likes", becoming X's fourth most popular post of the year.
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What is Trump's Most Popular X Post of 202x?
Though primarily active on his own Truth Social platform, Trump has occasionally shared content on his X account this year. His most popular tweet includes a photo of him donning an apron and waving from a McDonald's drive-thru drive-thru. This post, sans text, has collected 1.4 million "likes" so far.
Background Information
After temporarily endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' candidacy, Musk became Trump's most vocal supporter and primary financier in the 202x presidential election. Musk's fourth most popular tweet of the year marked his first public endorsement of Trump's candidacy. According to Federal Election Commission filings, Musk donated over $200 million to support Trump's campaign prior to the election; this included approximately $193 million given to his pro-Trump America PAC before election day, as well as an additional $20.5 million to a PAC promoting Trump's stance on abortion issues. Musk stumped for Trump in key swing states during the final weeks leading up to the election and even appeared alongside him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania (the site of Trump's first assassination attempt). Since Trump's victory, Musk has emerged as one of the president-elect's most influential figures and has been appointed as co-leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with reducing government spending. Musk's growing influence was evident last week as he successfully blocked a congressional spending bill on X. Trump's critics have since mockingly referred to Musk as "President Musk."
Shocking Discovery
Although Musk's posts gathered the most "likes", YouTuber Mr. Beast claimed the title of the most retweeted post that year—and still holds the record for the most retweeted post ever. In the post, Mr. Beast (real name: James Donaldson) declared he would give away $25,000 to 10 randomly selected individuals who "retweet and follow me"; the post amassed over 3.9 million retweets, which has since dropped to 3.4 million—presumably due to several participants deleting their retweets after the giveaway deadline expired.
Side Note
While Musk's top posts of 202x were related to the election, the most popular election-related tweet belongs to President Joe Biden. Biden's Jan. 20, 2021, post has 3.6 million "likes" and reads, "It's a new day in America."
Criticism
As his posts have received considerable engagement, Musk has faced criticism for reportedly manipulating the platform's algorithm to boost his visibility. Last year, Platformer reported that Musk demanded significant modifications to X's algorithms after a Super Bowl post by President Joe Biden garnered significantly more engagement than his. Musk even alluded to this with a meme post showing a woman marked "Elon's tweets" force-feeding milk to a woman labeled "Twitter".
Important Statistic
186%. This represents the percentage increase in the number of "likes" on Musk's posts between July 13, when he endorsed Trump, and Nov. 1, according to a study conducted by Australian researchers. However, it remains unclear if this increase is solely attributable to the election season driving higher engagement or if other prominent political accounts also experienced a similar boost. An investigation by The Washington Post found that between July and October of this year, tweets by Republican leaders were almost five times more likely to go viral—i.e., garner more than 20 million views—than tweets by Democrats.
The most liked X post by Donald Trump on his account, which has gained significant popularity, features him donning an apron and waving from a McDonald's drive-thru drive-thru, amassing 1.4 million "likes". This post, sans text, is Trump's most popular tweet on X.
Elon Musk, who financially supported Donald Trump in the 202x election, has the second most liked X post with 2.6 million "likes". This post shows Trump conversing with Musk and UFC President Dana White, with the caption "The future is gonna be so [lit]."
