Anti-Trump senate squatter John McCain tweeted out a request for 74 more followers on Twitter to help him reach the three million mark — instead, the senator found himself losing followers by the tens of thousands.
“We’re only 74 Twitter followers away from 3M – spread the word & help us reach this big milestone!” McCain tweeted on Monday afternoon.
We're only 74 Twitter followers away from 3M – spread the word & help us reach this big milestone!
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) December 4, 2017
Though his request was retweeted over 1,400 times, it did not have the desired results. Within hours, McCain’s follower count had dropped by roughly 5,000.
John McCain tweeted asking for 74 more followers so he can hit 3,000,000 and now he's down 5000. pic.twitter.com/TK2370MxXh
— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) December 4, 2017
By Tuesday morning, McCain was down a whopping 30,000 followers from where he had been before attempting to reach the big milestone. Within 15 hours of sending out the tweet, the outspoken Trump saboteur was down to 2,970,145 followers — and the number was continuing to fall.
The effort to mass-unfollow the senator was sparked by the left over his tax vote, but was cheered on by many members of the right who were sick of his pandering to the left for the past year.
You’ve lost 8,000 followers in the ~3 hours since you tweeted this.
Your follower count, like your legacy, is circling the drain.#UnfollowMcCain https://t.co/2rEqy3oXYR
— MustangZeroFive 🌻 (@MustangZeroFive) December 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/gettinnoticedmo/status/937774881281687552
As Americans began to organize under the hashtag #UnfollowMcCain, it appeared as though someone began to purchase him bot followers to mitigate the humiliation.
As people #unfollowMcCain, looks like someone at @SenJohnMcCain HQ is trying to stem the damage by buying bots. Here's the most recent wave. pic.twitter.com/C97AoX96gc
— Cat Rambo (@Catrambo) December 4, 2017
After turning on the right so many times — and now making enemies with his previous bedfellows on the left — perhaps McCain’s failures will finally spark a serious bipartisan discussion on term limits.