Baby Yoda is more popular than nearly every politician in America — including Donald Trump
Baby Yoda might want to consider throwing his name into the 2020 presidential race.
Because it turns out that the tiny, infinitely adorable green alien — who's become the source of nonstop internet admiration since he appeared in the first episode of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian" — is more popular than every single 2020 candidate.
According to a study by NewsWhip, which Axios obtained exclusively last week, Baby Yoda has drawn an incredible number of social media interactions since making his Nov. 12 debut on the Disney+ series.
NewsWhip's study found that the average story about the memeable, 50-year-old child drew 1,671 social media interactions — more than twice the amount garnered by any Democratic presidential candidate. Second to Baby Yoda was Bernie Sanders (850 interactions per story), followed closely by the party's frontrunner, Joe Biden (839 interactions per story).
It's worth noting that those figures just show the average engagement per story, meaning that, unfortunately, the internet's little green darling isn't technically receiving more interactions in total. In terms of overall numbers, Baby Yoda has gained 2.28 million interactions in since Nov. 12, which would place him fourth behind Sanders, Biden and Elizabeth Warren.
And Baby Yoda's internet prominence doesn't stop there. In fact, by some metrics, he's even more popular than President Trump.
According to Google Trends data, more people have searched for the term "Baby Yoda" than they have the words "Donald Trump" during the past seven days. Search data like that isn't the be-all-end-all, and its worth noting that more specific terms, such as "Donald Trump" being searched for specifically as the 45th president of the United States, are still more popular.
Still, all of these trends point to just how enormous Baby Yoda's online presence has become.
But seriously, here's why Baby Yoda should run for president
Internet popularity aside, there are more than a few reasons people should be excited about a hypothetical #BabyYoda2020 campaign. First, of all, he's more qualified than it may seem.
The little green child may act like a toddler, but, since he's actually 50 years old, he technically meets the presidential age minimum, which requires candidates to be 35 years or older. He's likely not a natural-born citizen of the U.S. — also a requirement — but, as the Mandalorian has technically not revealed his place of birth, it's not fair to count that out completely.
Also, Baby Yoda has a clear running mate in his Mandalorian friend — the unnamed warrior who discovers the alien child in the show's first episode. Known only as "Mando," the show's protagonist has a military background — usually a benefit, considering 29 of America's presidents have served in the armed forces — as well as a fully operational ship for making campaign stops.
And the most exciting reason? Merchandise. Disney is putting out plenty of shirts, coffee mugs and tote bags featuring images of Baby Yoda, just in time for the holiday season. And yes, the products are just as adorable as you might think.
