Biden vs Trump: What did people Google during the presidents’ first 100 days?

Since Franklin D Roosevelt’s whirlwind first term pioneering the New Deal in an effort to combat the Great Depression, the 100-day milestone has been of great note in American presidencies.

On 29 April 2021, Joe Biden met this mark with an approval rating of 53.8 per cent, according to FiveThirtyEight, in comparison to Donald Trump’s historic low of 43 per cent.

He raced ahead with executive orders – both creating new and revoking existing ones – with a total of 41 to Trump’s still-high 32. 

But how does public interest compare between the two diverging presidents?

By analysing Google data, we can see what was searched for during this pivotal time period – and where the public interest lies.

During Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, the most-searched related terms, meaning the accompanying words people tapped into Google along with his name, were:

For Joe Biden the list is similar, but with some notable differences:

“Twitter” as a term was consistently high for Trump, whereas it’s nowhere near the top for Biden. The conclusions we can draw from this broad-stroke data is, of course, speculative, but the demise in Twitter interest in relation to the president shows a shift in what people are searching for regarding politics of the day. Before, the public was keen to see what chaotic messages the president had tweeted overnight; now, the obsession has inevitably dwindled with Biden’s far more traditional social media presence.

However, there’s a continued interest in the First Family, with the public consistently keen to know about the president’s relationships – in particular Dr Jill Biden and the president’s second son Hunter Biden.

As someone who constantly analyses search trends, I have noticed policy matters gradually replacing social media obsession; and with that, an overall decline in interest from our previous erratic, dramatic and altogether unexpected president. As Biden’s presidency continues, will interest in the White House continue to decline? Or will people keep searching the important – if less tantalisingly headlined – subjects of the day?

Yours

Lucy Anna Gray

US audience editor