Presidential race takes over Snapchat

Presidential race takes over Snapchat

Indigo Kroll, Writer

It’s no secret that over the past few months, presidential candidates have taken the fight for office to social media.

Twitter has been an especially lethal battleground – just take a look at either of the accounts belonging to our two most prominent candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Both parties are constantly updating their accounts, occasionally engaging in “Twitter-wars” and appealing to the younger generation’s vote.

Though it was once confined to 140 characters on Twitter, it seems not even Snapchat is safe from politics. Over the months, the app has posted stories featuring different events in the political campaign.

More recently, however, Snapchat sold a national filter – the first ever used in the race, despite both candidates using local filters throughout their campaigns – to Donald Trump. The Republican candidates’ filter boasts the line “Donald Trump vs. Crooked Hillary”. Another features a cartoon Trump parachuting to the debate stage.

There’s no doubt that this campaign has brought surprises with each new step. With Trump’s Snapchat filters being discovered just before the anxiously awaited debate, I don’t expect it to be the oddest part of today’s political struggle.