Here is why White House followed PM Modi on Twitter and then unfollowed him
Washington, Apr 30: The White House Wednesday explained that its Twitter handle typically 'follows' the accounts of officials from host countries for a brief period during a presidential trip to retweet their messages in support of the visit.
During President Donald Trump's visit to India in the last week of February, the official Twitter handle of the White House -- @WhiteHouse -- had started 'following' the accounts of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister's office, the Indian Embassy in the US, the US Embassy in India and the US Ambassador to India, Ken Juster.
White House unfollows PM Modi 3 weeks after following him
Early
this
week,
the
White
House
'unfollowed'
all
these
six
Twitter
handles.
"The
White
House
Twitter
account
normally
follows
senior
US
government
Twitter
accounts,
and
others
as
appropriate.
For
example,
during
the
time
of
a
presidential
visit,
the
account
typically
follows
for
a
short
time,
the
host
country's
officials
to
retweet
their
messages
in
support
of
the
visit," a
senior
administration
official
told
PTI
on
the
condition
of
anonymity.
The official was responding to a question on the reasons for the White House 'following' and then 'unfollowing' the Twitter handles of President Kovind, Prime Minister Modi, the PMO and the other Indian officials.
The White House 'unfollowing' the Twitter accounts of President Kovind and PM Modi drew reactions on social media in India.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he was "dismayed" at the development.
"I'm dismayed by the "unfollowing" of our President & PM by the White House. I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take note," he said in a tweet on Wednesday. As of Wednesday, the White House had 22 million followers.
It has traditionally been following 13 accounts including that of President Donald Trump and his official Twitter handle, the First Lady, the Vice President, the Second Lady, the new Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the National Security Council and the former White House Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham, among others.