When Trump endorsed the GOP candidate in the 2022 US Senate elections, higher levels of social network embeddedness were linked to lower support for that candidate even by Republicans. Trump’s endorsement may have had a polarizing effect, due to his election fraud narratives and conspiracy theories.

I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15377857.2024.2383138

From the linked article:

A study published in the Journal of Political Marketing sheds light on the relationship between online social networks and voting behavior. The analysis of Republican Twitter users during the 2022 U.S. Senate elections found that individuals in tightly connected social groups were more inclined to support GOP candidates, except in cases involving an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

The study’s findings showed that higher levels of social network embeddedness were associated with greater support for Republican Senate candidates. In counties where Republican Twitter users were more closely connected within their networks, GOP candidates tended to perform better.

However, the study also found that the effect of social network embeddedness changed depending on whether the Republican candidate had been endorsed by Donald Trump. In races where Trump endorsed the GOP candidate, higher levels of social network embeddedness were linked to lower support for that candidate. This suggests that Trump’s endorsement may have had a polarizing effect, particularly in networks where users were closely connected.

The researchers speculate that Trump’s association with election fraud narratives and conspiracy theories might have contributed to this dynamic. In these highly connected networks, the spread of such narratives could have led to decreased confidence in the endorsed candidate, even among Republican voters.