Biden campaign courts young voters by joiningTikTok: ‘lol hey guys’
President Biden’s campaign — eager to win over young voters for its 81-year-old candidate — has launched a TikTok account with a video titled “lol hey guys.”
In a 30-second debut clip that dropped on Super Bowl Sunday, an aide peppered a grinning Biden with questions about the big game, including “Game or commercials?” and “Jason Kelce or Travis Kelce?”
Biden, who skipped a formal interview on game day, carefully sidestepped divisive sports questions, instead joking about rigging Super Bowl LVIII in a jab at bizarre Internet conspiracy theories.
“I’d get in trouble if I told you,” Biden quipped when asked if he was “deviously plotting to rig” the feted football event.
Biden’s campaign advisers told The Post that they “will continue meeting voters where they are, innovating to create content that will resonate with critical audiences and the core constituencies that make up the president’s diverse and broad coalition of voters.
“In a media ecosystem that is more fragmented and personalized than ever, it’s even more important to get our message across every channel and every platform possible,” the president’s re-election campaign said.
TikTok has come under immense bipartisan scrutiny over its ties to China. The firm is owned by a subsidiary of Chinese tech company ByteDance Ltd.
Given China’s national security laws that mandate firms fork over data that is relevant to Beijing’s national security, a slew of critics have sounded the alarms about TikTok’s growing popularity in the US.
But TikTok CEO Shou Che claimed to the Senate late last month, “We have not been asked for any data by the Chinese government, and we have never provided it.”
TikTok insists that it is walling off US data to allay national security concerns.
But detractors are still not pleased, with some such as Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley clamoring for banning the short-form video social-media platform from the US altogether.
Biden’s administration is also aggressively scrutinizing TikTok, with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US conducting a probe related to privacy concerns.
In 2022, Biden signed a bipartisan bill to prohibit the use of TikTok on most government devices.
“We are taking advanced safety precautions around our devices and incorporating a sophisticated security protocol to ensure security,” the Biden campaign advisers said.
“The campaign’s presence is independent and apart from the ongoing CFIUS review.”
Biden has previously courted TikTok influencers, having done interviews with creators such as Daniel Mac and the White House hosting a Christmas party for Internet influencers in December.
Last year, the Biden campaign joined former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform.
Both accounts have the username, “@bidenhq.”
