Mexican president leaves players far behind and is most popular in Latin America | outside

López Obrador, popularly known as AMLO in Mexico after his initials, has racked up at least 49.08 million hours of live streaming this year. This is much more than number two, 23-year-old Argentine player Ivan Raul Buhajiruk, known as Spreen, who achieved “only” 35 million hours watched.

López Obrador owes his popularity mainly to the press conferences he holds every day from seven in the morning during the week at the National Palace in Mexico City. Since taking office in 2018, the so-called “mañaneras” have been broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Mexican federal government. Although this channel has “only” just under 850,000 followers, Maniaras are also broadcast across X, former Twitter, and other social media. The president has just over 10 million followers on X.

Press conferences can sometimes last up to three hours, during which the president not only explains, defends, or announces his policy in long monologues, but also attacks political opponents and the press. Lopez Obrador still enjoys the support of most Mexicans after nearly six years in power, according to opinion polls.

Despite the impressive numbers from Stream Charts, not everyone is convinced that all viewers of AMLO's YouTube streams are real people. According to Signa_Lab, a research institute affiliated with ITESO University in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, a large portion of support for the president on social media consists of so-called “bots,” which are automated profiles that can artificially inflate online popularity ratings. .

Next year, presidential elections will be held in Mexico. López Obrador himself is not allowed to participate in this; The Mexican Constitution allows presidents only one six-year term.