Megyn Kelly with PM Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin (Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS)
Popular journalist Megyn Kelly had a brief ‘egg-on-the-face’ moment in St Petersburg, Russia when she asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the second-most followed political leader on Twitter, whether he was on Twitter.
Kelly, who is in Russia to interview President Vladimir Putin, was attending the state dinner party at the Konstantin Palace when she met PM Modi. When PM Modi remarked that he had seen her tweet ‘with the umbrella’, Kelly broke into a laugh and asked, ‘Oh, are you on Twitter?’ to which the prime minister nodded yes.
EXCLUSIVE: NBC News’ @megynkelly joins Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi ahead of tomorrow’s International Economic Forum in Russia. pic.twitter.com/L12ahtuTDO
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 1, 2017
Many on Twitter expressed surprise that Kelly was unaware of PM Modi’s social media following and especially his popularity on the micro-blogging platform.
PM Modi is the second-most followed current head of state on Twitter after Donald Trump with nearly 30 million followers. The prime minister is known for actively using the medium during his domestic and foreign tours, posting photos and videos and interacting with people. His official @PMOIndia handle has an additional 18 million followers.
The prime minister also commands more than 4 crore followers on Facebook and is the most followed world leader on Instagram with 6.8 million followers. He expanded his social media reach when he mounted his campaign for prime minister during the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
