What's Resonating: Monday, July 7
Trump signs the One Big Beautiful Bill, July 4th, and floods in Texas
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
Reactions to Trump signing the Republican budget bill
The 4th of July
Devastating floods in Texas
Today’s Analysis: Online reactions to the Texas floods
TLDR: Maintain empathy for victims and express outrage as you connect the floods in Texas to Trump’s dangerous budget cuts at the National Weather Service.
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This Weekend on Social Media
🟦 Left-leaning accounts
Left-leaning pages reacted to the signing of the Republican budget bill:
The Democrats' TikTok account shared three of the top five most-liked left-leaning posts, all featuring Republicans signing the budget bill, the most-liked one depicting Republicans after passing “the we fucking hate poor people bill.” (over 41 million views across the three posts)
The Democratic Governors page posted a meme about Republicans celebrating the passage of the OBBB. (7x overperforming on views and likes)
Prominent left-leaning pages posted for the 4th of July:
Kamala Harris: "Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better.” (3x average likes)
Barack Obama: “Independence Day is a reminder that America is not the project of any one person…”
Democrats: “If America hasn’t broken your heart, you don’t love her enough.”
Walter Masterson shared a clip asking people at the Trump military parade about due process. (5 million views, 4x average likes)
Hope Walz shared a video hiking with Tim Walz where they discussed protecting public lands. (10x average views)
Creator the.xfiles shared a video on how Trump’s cuts to the National Weather Service impacted the response to Texas floods. (7.2 million views)
🟥 Right-leaning accounts
JD Vance and Team Trump celebrated the passage of the Republican budget bill.
Charlie Kirk explained the benefits of the bill to those who get tips, overtime pay, or have babies. (5x the average shares for the account)
Team Trump and several other right-leaning pages celebrated the 4th of July by posting pro-Trump content.
Trump invited former Hamas hostage Edan Alexander to the White House.
Fox News posted about the Texas floods while other right-leaning pages praised the response of the Texas National Guard and amplified Trump’s disaster declaration.
The Fox News Facebook post featuring a quote from a young girl who lost her friend in the floods garnered 13 million views
🟨 Neutral (Political) accounts
Half of the top-ten most-liked posts from neutral political entities covered the news of Liverpool soccer star Diogo Jota’s death in a car crash.
The Daily Mail post on Russia hitting Kyiv with missiles and drones was the most-liked post across tracked pages with 4.1 million likes and over 70 million views.
A mural of the Statue of Liberty hiding in shame was unveiled in France the day before the 4th of July.
🟨 Neutral (Cultural) accounts
Barstool Sports reposted several viral videos of July 4th celebrations.
Savannah Chrisley interviewed her parents following their release from prison by Trump's pardon. (6x average views)
Creator Jerrilyn Lake shared a clip of Jill Scott singing a version of the national anthem which accused the U.S. of being a racist country. (21x average views)
Creator Glenn DeVar posted a video getting into drag for a 4th of July party where the theme was “no woke allowed.” (1.2 million views)
Dutch encouraged his audience to not give in to the cruelty in the wake of the OBBB passage. (585,000 views)
Today’s Analysis: Flooding in Texas
The flash floods in Texas that hit Camp Mystic and have claimed the lives of at least 88 people as of this writing were one of the top stories across the internet this weekend. While much of the conversation on Friday into Saturday focused on both the OBBB’s passage and the 4th of July celebrations, by Sunday the Texas floods were front and center as the primary topic — as seen below.
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Right-leaning pages are leading the conversation and emphasizing stories of individual heroism, first responders, and the lost lives of children. Fox News led right-leaning posts with breaking news coverage across platforms, emphasizing the Trump administration's response and comments from survivors and rescuers. Prayer was a common element across right-leaning flood posts, notably from the White House Faith Office on Instagram.
Neutral pages have primarily functioned as news-breakers, emphasizing the scale of the devastation and sharing local news clips.
Left-leaning pages shared very few straightforward stories about the lives lost or the scale of the devastation. Instead, many tied the devastation to the Trump administration. The most common thread emphasized cuts to the National Weather Service, which Texas officials were blaming for faulty forecasting, and tying those both to DOGE and the OBBB.
Other left-leaning pages like MeidasTouch and Harry Sisson reacted to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s statement on X about counteracting “fake weather.” Chris Mowrey flipped the traditional conservative playbook on its head, asking “Where the f**k is the President?” on Saturday as the disaster unfolded.
However, the right is out-performing the left on this topic thus far.
Left-leaning posts mentioning the flood or related terms averaged 8,400 engagements, between Saturday morning and Monday morning, about 15% better than non-flood related posts in the same time period.
For right-leaning pages, posts mentioning the flood averaged 10,400 engagements per post, and performed 50% better than non-flood related posts since Saturday.
We know from the hurricanes in September and October last year that natural disasters are a powerful opportunity to drive a narrative on social media. And the left has an opportunity here to tie this devastation to Trump’s dangerous budget cuts—but messengers need to make a point of expressing empathy for the victims in Texas. Genuine outrage that is rooted in the lost lives of Americans will get more attention than I told you so’s, and stand a better chance at reaching audiences outside of the left-leaning base.
We’ll keep an eye on this story throughout the week as data continues to come in.
Today’s takeaway: Left-leaning pages should lean into posting about the Texas flood story by connecting the floods in Texas to Trump’s dangerous budget cuts at the National Weather Service and voicing outrage while maintaining empathy for victims
Headlines you can use (via Daily Guidance from our friends at CAP Action):
As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas [NYT]
‘No warning at all’: Texas flood survivors question safety planning and officials’ response [The Guardian]
Experts Question If Weather Service Was Operating at Its Best Ahead of Texas Floods Amid Trump’s Cuts [TIME]
Trump’s DOGE Cuts are a Texas-Sized Disaster [Texas Observer]
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