Biden is planning to recruit army of TikTok influencers to help burnish his 2024 re-election hopes
Joe Biden plans to recruit an army of TikTok influencers to win over Gen Z voters in his 2024 reelection run.
The president’s digital strategy team connects with celebrities on social media and offers them their own White House briefing room. Axios reports.
Among the recruits is Henry Sisson, a 20-year-old NYU student who runs a TikTok page with more than 600,000 followers. He comments on American politics and regularly promotes Gen Z power to boost support for the Democrats.
Other recruits include Vivian Tu, 29, another TikTok influencer, and Heather Cox Richardson, 61, who writes a popular newsletter on the Substack blogging platform.
It comes because the Biden administration passed the Restrict Act, a bill that proposes a total ban or severe restrictions on the reach and power of Chinese-owned TikTok.
As tensions with China have increased, more Democrats have joined Republicans in pushing for such a law.
President Biden’s re-election campaign will rely on an army of social media influencers who will use TikTok, among others, to gain support from Gen Z voters
Among the recruits is Henry Sisson, a 20-year-old NYU student who runs a TikTok page with more than 600,000 followers
Biden’s plan to use social media to boost popularity was spearheaded by Rob Flaherty, who has been named Assistant to the President – a testament to the White House’s emphasis on digital strategy.
“We’re reaching out to young people, as well as mothers who use different platforms to get information and climate activists and people whose main way to get information is digital,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, White House deputy chief of staff, said. to Axios.
Planning to create a dedicated White House briefing room for influencers to meet is another sign that the new push is serious. It would mean that the existing Press Briefing Room would no longer be the administration’s only messaging center.
“We actually asked the White House, ‘When are we going to get press briefing passes?
‘ said Sisson to Axios. “They actually responded really well to it,” he added.
Sisson’s short video clips have gone viral on TikTok a number of times. He often discusses the power of Gen Z voters to influence elections.
“Republicans tried to silence their voices and the voices of the many Gen Z activists,” he said in a video. “They failed and they failed badly. If you thought this was bad for Republicans, wait until 2024. A wave of young voters will come to the polls and they will vote blue.”
Biden lags behind former President Donald Trump when it comes to social media reach, especially on video hosting platforms like YouTube and Facebook, Axios reported.
His new strategy will mainly focus on platforms used by younger voters, such as Instagram and TikTok.
The White House now wants to work with influencers who have a local audience that can be mobilized when he travels to certain states, just as his regional team has built relationships with local media outlets.
Last year, Biden met with viral TikTok star and transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney in the Oval Office to discuss her transition and transgender issues in the US, though there is currently no indication she will be part of his “army.”
Vivian Tu is a 29-year-old former JP Morgan investment banker who runs a TikTok page called YourRichBFF. She would be a member of Biden’s team that will use her supporters to boost his re-election chances
Richardson interviews Biden in February 2022
One influencer who has been confirmed by Axios as a member of Biden’s new team is Tu, who provides financial advice to her more than 2 million followers on TikTok.
A Boston College professor, Richardson differs from the other two influencers in that her primary platform is Substack, which generally targets an older audience. Richardson has existing ties to Biden and interviewed him in February 2022.
Last Thursday, two US senators proposed giving the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok.
Biden’s plan to use social media to boost popularity was spearheaded by Rob Flaherty (pictured). He has been appointed assistant to the president
Senators Mark Warner, a Democrat, and John Thune, a Republican, last month proposed the Restrict Act that would give the Commerce Department new powers to review a range of transactions related to foreign information and communications technology that pose national security risks , block and tackle.
Our bill aims to modernize the president’s international economic authorities for the digital age, provide important guardrails for presidential authority, empower Congress to overturn certain presidential decisions, and establish a risk-based process. to deal with foreign adversaries. technology,” Warner and Thune said in the Wall Street Journal.
The White House and 26 senators support the Restrict Act that would apply to foreign technologies from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.
However, critics say the bill is presumptuous and violates the civil liberties of Americans, including the more than 150 million US TikTok users.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before Congress last month and was questioned about the national security concerns raised by the app.
TikTok star and transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney photographed outside the White House in October discussing her transition and transgender issues in the US with Biden