• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Leadership

One President Dominated Twitter’s Top Tweets of 2017, and It Wasn’t Donald Trump

By
Natasha Bach
Natasha Bach
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Natasha Bach
Natasha Bach
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 5, 2017, 8:36 AM ET

As 2017 winds down, President Donald Trump continues to make headlines via his active Twitter account on a near-daily basis. But for all his furious posting, the tweeter-in-chief failed to make Twitter’s lists of most-liked and most-retweeted posts of 2017.

So who did take the No. 1 slots? Those prizes, announced Tuesday, went to former President Barack Obama and—interestingly enough—a teenager on a quest for chicken nuggets.

Read: Twitter Backtracks on Why It Didn’t Block Trump’s Anti-Muslim Tweets

Former President Barack Obama had the most-liked tweet of the year. His post in response to the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville this summer received 4.6 million likes. Another tweet, which he shared after Senator John McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis was made public, received more than 2 million likes, making it the third most-liked of 2017.

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…" pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017

John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2017

Obama was also responsible for three of the ten most-retweeted tweets of the year. The Charlottesville tweet came in at No. 2, with 1.7 million retweets.

The No. 1 retweeted spot, meanwhile, went to a teenager trying to get a year of free chicken nuggets from Wendy’s. The teen’s tweet received more than 3.6 million retweets but fell well short of the 18 million target set by Wendy’s. (The fast food chain gave him the year supply of chicken anyway.)

HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3

— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017

Two tweets that Obama shared at the end of his presidency ranked fifth and eighth among the most-retweeted. Obama’s thank you and call for change received 869,000 retweets, landing at No. 5. “Thank you for everything,” he posted. “My last ask is the same as my first. I’m asking you to believe—not in my ability to create change, but in yours.” And his final tweet as president received a respectable 630,000 retweets to land at No. 8. In it, he said, “It’s been the honor of my life to serve you. You made me a better leader and a better man.”

 

About the Author
By Natasha Bach
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Leadership

Woman holding a yellow umbrella that has become inverted in the wind.
NewslettersEye on AI
AI agents are getting more capable, but reliability is lagging—and that’s a problem
By Jeremy KahnMarch 24, 2026
3 hours ago
Khosla gestures with both hands
AIElections
Billionaire OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla thinks 80% of jobs could vanish by 2030, and that ‘fear of AI’ put American politics in a chokehold
By Jacqueline MunisMarch 24, 2026
5 hours ago
Aravind Srinivas, wearing a white sweater, lifts both of his arms in front of him.
Future of WorkLabor
Perplexity CEO says AI layoffs aren’t so bad because people hate their jobs anyways: ‘That sort of glorious future is what we should look forward to’
By Sasha RogelbergMarch 24, 2026
6 hours ago
boardroom
AIJobs
CFOs admit privately that AI layoffs will be 9x higher this year—and still a fraction of ‘doomsday’ predictions
By Jake AngeloMarch 24, 2026
7 hours ago
Middle EastLetter from London
As war continues to rage, the World Economic Forum is the latest to postpone Gulf conference in Saudi 
By Kamal AhmedMarch 24, 2026
8 hours ago
SuccessNCAA March Madness
From 12 hours of video games a day to Big Ten Player of the Year: The unlikely rise of Yaxel Lendeborg
By Sydney LakeMarch 24, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

Commentary
The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it
By Fortune EditorsMarch 23, 2026
1 day ago
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of March 23, 2026
By Fortune EditorsMarch 23, 2026
1 day ago
Economy
It took 200 years for national debt to hit $1 trillion. Annual interest alone now exceeds that—a 'crushing legacy we must reverse,' says budget chair
By Fortune EditorsMarch 23, 2026
1 day ago
Magazine
The youngest-ever female CEO of a Fortune 500 company is fighting Trump's cuts to keep Medicaid strong
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
15 hours ago
Economy
Larry Fink says today's economic anxiety stems from people increasingly feeling like capitalism isn't working for them
By Fortune EditorsMarch 23, 2026
1 day ago
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, March 24, 2026
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
11 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.