President Joe Biden Uses TikTok to Reach Voters

President Joe Biden, despite concerns from his administration regarding the security of the app and the potential sharing of user data with the Chinese government, launched his TikTok account during the Super Bowl on Sunday evening.

The “Biden HQ” account posted a video titled “lol hey guys,” in which President Biden answers questions related to the Super Bowl, such as “game or halftime?” (game) and “Jason Kelce or Travis Kelce?” (Mama Kelce, for her famous “amazing chocolate chip cookies”). In the video, the campaign and the president also joke about baseless conspiracy theories suggesting that the success of the Kansas City Chiefs was rigged. When asked if he had “schemed to fake the season so the Chiefs could make it to the Super Bowl” or if they are simply “a good team,” President Biden responded, “I would get in trouble if I told you.” The screen then showed an image of “Dark Brandon,” a satirical meme featuring Biden with lasers shooting from his eyes.

President Biden’s TikTok account “Biden HQ” continues to use memes and also mocks the baseless conspiracy theories of conservatives, claiming that Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce is part of a “pro-Biden” agenda. “Just as we planned it,” Biden wrote alongside the image of “Dark Brandon” after the Chiefs’ victory in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

As of Monday morning, Biden’s TikTok campaign account had over 4.6 million views on the platform. Biden’s campaign advisers claim that their presence on this platform is an attempt to “meet voters where they are” in today’s more dispersed and individualized media ecosystem. They stated, “In an ecosystem that is more dispersed and individualized than ever before, it is even more important to convey our message on every channel and available platform.” They added that the TikTok account will be managed by the campaign itself, but no decision has been made yet on whether the President or any other participants will also join in the future.

The White House banned the use of TikTok on government devices starting in early 2023, as a result of actions taken by Congress to prohibit the use of the app on government devices by the end of 2022. In March 2023, the Biden administration considered a nationwide ban on using the TikTok app, unless the Chinese parent company ByteDance divested from the social media platform. The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into ByteDance to determine if it is spying on American citizens, as reported by CBS News in the same month. Campaign advisers claim that the campaign is taking “advanced security precautions” regarding devices and implementing a “sophisticated security protocol.” They stated, “The campaign’s presence is independent and unrelated to the ongoing CFIUS review,” referring to the review of TikTok by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. However, even before opening the campaign’s TikTok account, the Biden White House did not completely ignore the app: influencers on the platform were informed by the White House about the war in Ukraine, and President Biden himself participated in an interview with TikTok creator Daniel Mac, and digital influencers were invited to an exclusive Christmas party at the White House in 2023. The Democratic National Committee has a more extensive presence on TikTok, with over 510,000 followers and 640 videos, many of which focus on the President.