Even as President Joe Biden continues to play coy about his plans for 2024 and appears to have pushed off any announcement (again) for the time being, his team is working on plans for a presumed reelection bid to reach young voters with the octogenarian candidate's messages.
According to Axios, Biden's yet-unannounced campaign "will lean on hundreds of social media 'influencers' who will tout Biden's record — and soon may have their own briefing room at the White House." Yes, really.
Axios noted that Team Biden is worried because the president's online followings lag behind former President Donald Trump's, and their new "strategy is aimed more at platforms favored by younger voters, such as Instagram and TikTok."
This "army" of influencers includes those who use TikTok, the CCP-linked platform that is in the middle of a firestorm of criticism for the information it collects about Americans, how that information is used by Beijing, and what content is pushed to American users.
These TikTok influencers have reportedly asked for their own briefing room at the White House and regular access to the president, and if that doesn't sound like something a Chinese spy would seek, we can't help you. This isn't to say that all American TikTok influencers are on the CCP's payroll, but to note that they are playing a part in the intelligence gathering, narrative influencing, and world conquering aspirations of the genocidal regime.
Axios noted that the Biden administration was "very responsive" to such requests and is now "moving toward giving influencers their own briefing room in the White House." Gone are the days of Jim Acosta's performative back-and-forth with President Trump's press secretaries, and instead it'll be Karine Jean-Pierre doing viral dance routines while lying about inflation as dozens of influencers stream the remix to their TikTok followers. Or something like that.
Here's the bigger problem, beyond giving influencers their own briefing room when Karine Jean-Pierre won't even answer questions posed by the existing press corps covering the White House: How can Biden pretend to be serious about TikTok — something Biden and his administration have struggled to demonstrate thus far — while also incentivizing TikTok, formalizing its presence in the White House, and using it aggressively to try and win the president a second term?
Axios noted the clear conflict created as the Biden White House "is courting support on TikTok even as it has called for the platform to be sold or else risk being banned in the U.S. because of its owner's ties to China's government." So what gives, and which is more important to Biden: protecting the U.S. from foreign bad actors or securing reelection for himself?
The answer seems obvious.
Let’s be clear about what’s happening here.
— Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) April 10, 2023
The Biden admin is giving press credentials to influencers on TikTok — Beijing’s Trojan Horse app — to boost Biden’s re-elect campaign.
And we’re supposed to believe Biden would ban TikTok if given the chance? https://t.co/ZYdy3cAzPx
Yet again, the Biden administration is saying one thing about taking threats from China seriously — though barely able to explain its position on TikTok and the threats it poses — and then doing the opposite by welcoming TikTok with open arms into the West Wing.
This was also, for those who've been following Democrats' love affair with TikTok, entirely predictable. As Townhall reported in March, one of the big reasons why President Biden has shied away from decisive action to ban or limit TikTok in the United States is entirely political: Democrats need TikTok to reach young Americans and get them to vote for their party's candidates.