In many ways, the election in 2024 forms to be a frustrating familiar business, with President Joe Biden likely to meet former President Donald Trump once again in a de facto-fasting on their previous match-up. At the same time, the broad knowledge often breeds a lot of strangeness at the margins, where campaigns do everything they can to shake up the dynamics of what might otherwise be a hard and uninspiring breed.
It was in the spirit of unexpected disturbance that the Biden campaign on Sunday debuted its latest effort to reach younger voters and published a short Super Bowl theme and response to Tiktok with the simple caption “Lol Hey Guys.”
While the video itself is quite innocent (except for a short skewer of a Bizarre right -wing conspiracy theory The bid worked in Consort with the NFL and Taylor Swift to construct an election distributing Super Bowl result) the fact that it exists at all is remarkable. Just eight months earlier, the Biden campaign rejected all plans for an official TikTok account and instead chose to “(Lean) on the influence and surrogate”, said NBC News Last summer. Crucial is Tictok excluded on most government units over Fear of algorithmic manipulation and data collection from the Chinese owned app.
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Given the ongoing state skepticism and enmity aimed at TikTok, what is behind the Biden team’s sudden flip-flop, and will it really make a difference when voters go to the choices in November?
‘Meeting voters where they are’
Biden campaign motivated its election year TikTok about face in a statement to AxiosCalls its new account a way to get its message over “every channel and every platform that is possible” in a media environment that is more “fragmented and personal than ever.” The campaign also emphasized that it “incorporated a sophisticated security protocol” for its use of the app, even if it did not expand what these measures are. In the end, the Biden team hopes that its move to Tiktok will help “meet voters where they are” said campaign officials who spoke to NBC Newswho noted that the app has become a “powerful tool to mobilize Gen Z in previous elections.”
The campaign’s debut on Tiktok comes when the Biden team has “leaned hard into memes,” Washington Post said and highlights the account ‘Dark Brandon“Avatar. Nevertheless, Biden” has jeopardized his position with younger voters “lately and” drew review “to avoid a traditional president Super Bowl interview, said Wall Street JournalWho noticed the new Tiktok strategy a “about face” for the administration.
This white house has “conducted a love-hate relationship” with tictoc, said CNBCNote that although the administration “Open has urged Tiktok stars and content producers” to help spread its messages, it also “quietly” with “China-skeptical legislators” who has criticized the app.
In the end, whether Biden’s team can “get the 81-year-old president to look cool on the platform” is an “open question”, ” New York Times said and added that the video had taken up more than 4.5 million views from Monday morning.
‘Using a Chinese spy app’
Several Republican legislators wasted some time that buzzed with the president for joining the controversial app, with Senator Tom Cotton (R-sheet.) X That “just like TikTok, Temu or any Chinese technology company must allow the Communist Party unobstructed access to its tasks” which should be a “non-starter” to work in the United States earlier this month died condemn for a controversial hearing with TikTok CEO SHOU Chews, where the Senator accused the Singapor’s CEO of being seen in China. Back and forth is described as “ignorant – or even racist” by other Singaporeer, said PBS Newshour.
Then Josh Hawley (R-MO.) Was even more directly in his criticism of Biden for “using a Chinese spy app.”
In the end, the example Biden can be set “may be even more harmful” than the urgent national security risks for his account, said National review. By embracing Tiktok, the president creates a state structure “for other politicians to join him and” signal to Americans that they should not listen to the serious alarm “for their own national security managers.