The Serious Reason Why TikTok Pranksters Declared President Trump ‘Died’

After claiming credit for depressing turnout at a Donald Trump political rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, pranksters on TikTok upped their game against the President of the United States by declaring over the weekend that he had “died.”

 Users of the second-most downloaded App in the U.S. claimed that Trump had overdosed on Hydroxychloroquine and that the media was covering up his demise. Hydroxychloroquine is the anti-malarial drug that Trump took to protect himself against the coronavirus. He also touted the drug as a potential cure for the deadly COVID-19 disease the virus causes. Research published in the prestigious U.K. medical journal The Lancet found that COVID-19 patients who took Hydroxychloroquine faced an increased risk of heart issues and premature death.

 The phony Trump tributes appear to be the brainchild of a TikToker named “Ashley Vee”, also known as “thesoggycactus”, who says she is 18-years-old.

“Much like one of my close friends (who) faked her death in seventh grade, I want to do the same thing to our president,” thesoggycactus said in a video Saturday. “I want to see people making t-shirts. I want to see memoriam posts. I need to see artists making pictures. We all need to get behind this. The only way to make this believable is if we have the same back story as to why he is no longer serving with us.”

As of Tuesday morning, dozens of TikTok users appear to have heeded the call from thesoggycactus. 

According to TikTok, the #RIPTrump got more than 17 million views as of Tuesday afternoon. #RIPDonaldTrump attracted about 10 million views. Many of the pranksters didn’t try that hard to hide their contempt for the 45th President of The United States, who, of course, is alive and well. None of them called for anyone to harm Trump physically, which is a federal crime.

 “I can’t believe he is gone,” declared “The Alphabet Mafia,” a young bearded man wearing a blue bathrobe pretending to well-up with emotion in a video which has 21,000 likes.  

A pro-Trump TikToker named TenZip claimed Alphabet Mafia’s post was “not funny or okay at all. Death isn’t a joke.”

Alphabet Mafia responded: “Okay, then tell Trump to stop `joking’ about drinking Clorox and hand sanitizer and reducing testing because it would drive the numbers down.”

Indeed, public health experts, including some members of his Administration, questioned Trump’s claims Alphabet Mafia referenced, which were also roundly criticized by the mainstream media.

There is, however, a downside to the “prank.”

One young woman who posted a phony Trump tribute told her more than 31,000 followers that she decided to take it off the site because she feared for her safety after receiving numerous death threats. She apologized for the trouble her video, which got more than 1 million views caused. I am withholding identifying information about her because she is a minor.

“My Mom and I decided it was for the best.” the TikToker, who appeared to be a teenager, said in a post yesterday.

She declined a request for an interview. Thesoggycactus and The Alphabet Mafia didn’t respond to messages left on their TikTok accounts

TikTok is fertile ground for political activism or misinformation, depending on your perspective.

 According to the online advertising and marketing company Wallaroo Media, TikTok has about 80 million active U.S. users, 60 percent of which are between the ages of 16 and 24. Users spend ad average if 52 minutes a day scrolling through TikTok’s short videos,

 ByteDance, a privately-held Chinese tech company that reportedly has a valuation of as much as $100 billion, owns TikTok. ByteDance’s U.S. revenue in 2020 is estimated at $500 million. The financial press expects the company to file an Initial Public Offering in the next year or so.

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