Tipsheet

Promoting Sec. Blinken's Spotify Playlist is Apparently a Huge Priority for the State Department

One of the most memorable and tragic parts of President Joe Biden's first year in office has been the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan. It's similarly marred the credibility of the State Department, which has a lot on its plate going into the new year, at least it ought to. Yet the social media platforms aren't exactly exuding such an urgent on the important topics, not when they have Secretary Antony Blinken's Spotify list to tweet out multiple times over several days, from multiple accounts.

The following is just a sampling of some of the tweets. 

Perhaps one of the most absurd promotions of the Spotify playlist is that Sec. Blinken tweeted it as if it were part of his duties. "Part of my job includes promoting people-to-people diplomacy and forging ties with other nations through a shared love of culture, including music," one tweet claimed. 

As pathetic as such a priority may seem, it's not entirely surprising coming from the Biden administration's State Department. Another New Year's message from Blinken included some self-congratulations, with claims that the department "made great strides in restoring American leadership and rebuilding and revitalizing alliances and partnerships this past year."

The "at home" playlist is actually only a little over one hour with 17 songs included in the playlist. As of January 2, 6 days after many of the songs were added, the playlist has 183 likes. The "on the road" playlist has 391 likes and is a bit more substantive, with 36 songs and close to 2.5 hours long.