Biden campaign says Twitter will wipe POTUS account’s followers

President-elect Joe Biden’s team said Twitter told them they will wipe followers from the official POTUS and WhiteHouse accounts before transferring them to the new administration, breaking from what the social media giant did four years ago.

“In 2016, the Trump admin absorbed all of President Obama’s Twitter followers on @POTUS and @WhiteHouse — at Team 44’s urging,” Flaherty tweeted Tuesday. “In 2020, Twitter has informed us that as of right now the Biden administration will have to start from zero.”

Twitter later released a statement confirming that the WhiteHouse and POTUS accounts will not automatically retain their existing followers after they are transferred to the Biden administration on Inauguration Day.

The POTUS account has 33.2 million followers, but it pales in comparison to President Trump’s personal account’s 88.5 million followers. When Trump leaves office, however, he may face greater challenges from Twitter on his personal account.