What made Biden lose his cool with the TikTok star
Advertisement
President Joe Biden lost his cool with a TikTok star during a special White House meeting with social media influencers, even threatening to throw his phone across the room. Independent journalist and social media enthusiast Jonathan M. Katz began recording Biden and pressuring him about his support for Israel during the Gaza war. He asked him what he would do to prevent the “genocide” that took place with American-funded weapons.
The president tried to sidestep the questions, claiming he was working to reduce the number of casualties in Gaza. But when Katz pressed him on the issue, the president grew impatient. βI know you’re a typical press guy, you’re grabbing me on all of thisβ¦ but I trust you as far as I can throw your phone,β Biden said angrily. ‘I’ve got a good arm, man. I can throw far.’
Katz said he was approached by aides and led away from the president after the exchange. He posted the video to his TikTok account, which has about 70,000 followers. The video has been viewed 28,700 times. Katz wrote on his Racket news website that he was surprised when he received an invitation to the White House in April, where a host of left-wing social media stars and celebrities were in attendance.
He said it was “ironic” that he was invited to the White House even after the president signed a bill banning TikTok. He also revealed that guests at the White House included actor David Cross from the show Arrested Development, actress Fran Drescher, Yvette Nicole Brown from the show Community, Diedrich Bader from Veep and Jon Cryer, an actor from Hot Shots. The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper was also in attendance, as were impressionist Matt Friend, and V Spehar of UnderTheDesk News.
As the exchange with Katz showed, many young progressives on TikTok remain angry at the White House over Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. The New York Times reported Friday that allies of Biden and the Democrats are “working furiously” to build an army of social media supporters who will create pro-Biden content for social media.
According to the report, the Biden campaign spent $2 million to retain the social media outreach company Village Marketing. The Democratic National Committee plans to invite a host of influencers to the convention, but they aren’t keen on future awkward videos of TikTok stars interacting with the president. Social media star Joshua Doss was recently contacted for an interview with Biden but was told not to ask about Gaza.
Biden continues to struggle to gain support from young stars on TikTok, especially after signing a bill that would effectively ban the app if the Chinese company doesn’t sell it. Former President Donald Trump made a monster debut on TikTok earlier this month, with 6.3 million followers, while the Biden campaign account has just 376,000 followers.
Biden has also publicly lashed out against traditional media. During a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday, Biden complained that reporters were not following the “rules” by only asking questions about Ukraine.
βI wish you would follow the rules a little,β he said grumpily after reporters asked about the war in Gaza. Biden has also threatened to fight journalists if he is questioned about his age. βI can do it better than anyone,β he told TIME reporters during an interview. “You’re looking at me, I can take you too.”
