Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
No speaker at the Democratic National Convention came close to generating as much online enthusiasm as Michelle Obama, according to NewsWhip data shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: By these measures, the most effective messenger in the Democratic Party is not even a politician.
By the numbers: Among the 100 most viral stories about DNC topics this past week, there were 7.56 million social media interactions (likes, comments, shares) on stories about Michelle Obama's speech.
- That's 5x more than the estimated total for the next closest person — her husband.
- Joe Biden, the presidential nominee and the main focus of the convention, came in third.
Between the lines: Many of the best-performing articles around Michelle Obama called for readers to watch or read the full speech, framed neutrally.
- Other top items were headlined around memorable lines from her speech — "in over his head," "the wrong president for our country," and "it is what it is."
- On the right, the most traction for stories about her speech came around the Associated Press fact-checking her claim that the Trump administration put kids in cages. (It concluded that while the Trump administration did own the policy of separating families, the reference to "cages" was misleading.)
The details: Barack Obama had the second-most interactions, followed by Biden and then President Trump.
- Kamala Harris, the vice presidential nominee and the other subject of praise during the week, was far down on the list, with only one story in the top 100.
- The data captured all of the social media interactions as of Friday morning — including stories about Biden and Harris's acceptance speeches.
- For Wednesday and Thursday's articles, NewsWhip's predicted interactions account for where the stories could be expected to wind up, factoring in whether they were gaining or losing traction as of Friday morning.
While left-leaning audiences ate up stories about the Obamas — as well as Republicans who have embraced Biden, like Cindy McCain and John Kasich — conservative audiences fixated on a handful of storylines that would be invisible to many people with liberal feeds.
- The top storyline was the presence of undocumented immigrants in the convention program — one of whom expressed a desire for health care access.
- Another top theme on the right was pillorying the 42nd president: "Bill Clinton Lectures Donald Trump About His Conduct In ‘The Oval Office’ During DNC Convention Speech" (Daily Wire) and "Man Who Had Oval Office Affair with Intern Condemns Trump's Use of Oval Office" (Western Journal).
- Right-wing publications also leaned into videos of caucus meetings at the convention that showed the Pledge of Allegiance being recited without "under God."