What's Resonating: Monday, July 28th
Starvation in Gaza, Epstein distractions, and Trump on trade
We’re back with another edition of What’s Resonating – a daily newsletter from the Resonate team that delivers a data-driven snapshot of the stories, trends, and messages shaping online culture and politics.`
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Now, let’s dive in.
What’s Resonating
Starvation in Gaza
The Epstein files and Trump’s attempts at distraction
Trump makes a trade deal with the European Union
Today’s Takeaway: Calls for humanitarian aid to Gaza are growing from left-leaning pages, neutral pages, and cultural creators in greater numbers than we’ve seen in months. Meanwhile, Trump and the White House are trying on a number of distractions from the Epstein Files conversation. See Resonate’s Takes below for advice on how to engage in these conversations.
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Yesterday on Social Media
🟦 Left-leaning accounts
Four of the top five posts from left-leaning pages were about the famine in Gaza, which was indisputably the leading topic through the weekend across left-leaning and neutral pages:
Resonate’s Take: Post volume about Gaza spiked to its highest peak since February. Yet relatively few posts are tying the lack of U.S. pressure on Netanyahu around this issue to Trump. This is an opportunity for left-leaning pages to call for more aid into Gaza and ramp up pressure on Trump.
Matt Bernstein argued that “famine” is a misleading term, saying “there is a manufactured starvation of a civilian population which can be stopped whenever [Israel] chooses — paid for by you and me.” (459,000 likes)
Creator Spencer made a video about how Gaza is in a state of mass starvation. (2.4 million views)
Resonate’s Take: In Spencer’s caption, he included several unrelated phrases to increase engagement with the algorithm. This can be an effective occasional strategy to boost views and signal this is an important message that needs to be seen by a broader audience.
So Informed shared that the crew of the Freedom Flotilla, an aid ship, were "abducted by Israel.” (378,000 likes, 6x the average channel likes)
Journalist Bisan Owda shared that her uncle was killed in Gaza. (371,000 likes)
The Democrats shared a meme of Trump using a sound calling him “chopped” and “unc” (ugly and old). (5.3 million views, 112,000 shares, 17x the average shares for the account, second most-liked post across all pages)
The Democrats page also shared a video using a common TikTok trend, contrasting Obama signing the Affordable Care Act and Trump signing the OBBB, with the caption “healthcare ripped away from 17 million Americans.” (989,000 views)
Call to Activism highlighted Scottish protests against Trump’s visit. (967,000 views)
Isaiah Martin, a congressional candidate in Texas, shared a video after he was released from jail. Martin was dragged out of a hearing and arrested after opposing the state’s redistricting efforts. (512,000 views, 11x the average views for the account)
Aaron Parnas reported on Trump calling for the prosecution of Kamala Harris for illegally paying Beyonce and Oprah for endorsements. (1.3 million views)
Chuck Schumer posted a video labeling the current Congressional break the “Epstein Recess” and claiming “we now know the truth, that Donald Trump is in the Epstein files.” (3.1 million views, 30x the average likes for the account)
Resonate’s Take: Easy opportunity to pile on Trump during this “Epstein Recess”: today he described going to Epstein’s island as a “privilege” for guests. Please post about this today if you haven’t yet!
🟥 Right-leaning accounts
Donald Trump shared a meme of Obama driving O.J. Simpson’s white Ford Bronco, followed in cop cars by Trump and Vance. (612,000 likes, most-liked right-leaning post)
Note: Donald Trump Jr. posted the image to Instagram first on July 22nd. (102,000 likes)
J.D. Vance amplified President Trump’s weekend post on Twitter. (140,000 likes)
Resonate’s Take: Pete Buttigieg demonstrated how to respond effectively to this issue with this clip from his appearance on the Breakfast Club (2 million views, 126,000 likes), tying it back to the Epstein files and dismissing Trump’s “distraction machine.”
Benny Johnson and DC Draino celebrated Derrick Perry, the man with a gun who stopped an attacker with a knife in Traverse City, Michigan in two of the most-liked right-leaning posts over the weekend.
Creator and gun rights activist Colion Noir also amplified the story. (1.7 million views, top right-leaning YouTube post)
Fox News amplified a Dan Bongino tweet where he vowed to bring “the truth” to the American people (219,000 likes, 20x average likes)
Several right-leaning posts focused on Trump’s recent trade deals:
Fox News shared Trump’s announcement of a trade deal with the European Union. (161,000 likes)
The “President Trump is my Wingman” Facebook page amplified Trump’s claims that tariff revenue should replace the income tax.” (841,000 views, 39x the average likes for the account)
JD Vance claimed, “the entire European press is singing the president’s praises right now, amazed at the deal he negotiated on behalf of Americans.” (107,000 likes)
DC Draino and The Typical Liberal shared a clip of a woman attempting to interfere with an ICE raid, suggesting “white liberal woman” should be deported. (3.7 million views)
🟨 Neutral (Political) accounts
Neutral entities largely focused on the starvation in Gaza:
BBC News shared clips of Jordan and the UAE air drops of aid into Gaza. (8.8 million views, 7x average views)
Al Jazeera English reported on Colombia halting coal exports to Israel. (1.3 million views)
BBC News also shared the story of a retired U.S. special forces officer who resigned from his work at aid distribution centers in Gaza because he witnessed “war crimes.” (1.3 million views)
The New York Times reported that there is no proof Hamas routinely stole UN aid. (129,000 likes)
NBC News reported on passengers evacuating a flight after issues with the landing gear. (4.1 million views, 5x average views)
Resonate’s Take: Disaster footage often goes viral. Airplane incidents seem to have particular attention around them, especially after the string of incidents earlier this spring that led people to question whether the Trump administration had made air travel less safe.
The Daily Mail amplified Astronomer's response to the Coldplay incident featuring Gwyneth Paltrow. (8.2 million views)
The Daily Mail reported that a Mexican diplomat encouraged Mexicans to rethink traveling to Florida following the opening of Alligator Alcatraz. (2.9 million views)
🟨 Neutral (Cultural) accounts
Cultural creators also spoke out on Gaza:
Dutch asked his audience to imagine facing violence trying to get food like the people in Gaza. (1.5 million views)
Ms. Rachel posted another video featuring a child in Gaza, this time calling attention to the current famine (496,000 views) and amplified a post from Mark Ruffalo thanking her for speaking out for the children in Palestine. (110,000 likes)
Influencer Romy Mars used the viral sound of news audio reporting on Trump’s chronic vein condition. (1.1 million views)
Note: Romy Mars is the daughter of famous director Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars, lead singer of the band Phoenix.
Resonate’s Take: This trend is still growing in popularity among younger, left-leaning creators, and is extremely low-effort. Worth it for anyone with a largely progressive audience to hop on…Trump posts far worse memes about his opponents all the time.
Creator Frank Niu explained the Tea App data breach. (4.7 million views, 15x average views)
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