Face of the Day

Over the past two years, a little-known aide to United States President Donald Trump has become one of the GOP’s most influential content creators, filming him dancing on a tarmac in Malaysia, serving French fries at McDonald’s on the campaign trail and greeting small children in the Oval Office.

Margo Martin, a 30-year-old who gets as close to the president as his Secret Service detail, is the quiet engine of a social media operation that has transformed presidential communications.

Armed with an iPhone camera, she gives what feels like a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the president and the most potent element that spurs online engagement: a sense of authenticity.

Martin’s raw material is then processed by a sprawling network of better-known right-wing influencers who use that content for memes, podcast clips and shows that go viral, reinforcing Trump’s bond with his most ardent supporters and maintaining his status as a ubiquitous pop culture figure for everyone else.

During Trump’s trip to Asia last year, vertical videos and photos captured by Martin were viewed nearly 50 million times on her X account and more than 222 million times on the @TeamTrump Instagram and TikTok, not to mention the millions of views on reposts from Trump supporters who cribbed the content and shared it themselves.

It’s curated, of course. You won’t see images of Trump dozing off in a Cabinet meeting or the bruise on his hand that are often promoted by the left. But even Democrats who view Martin’s efforts as propaganda concede their effectiveness.

“The more you see something, the more you think it’s true,” said Sammy Kanter, a Democratic content creator and new media consultant.

NZ Herald