(The Hill) — President Joe Biden posted on TikTok for the first time on Sunday with a Super Bowl-themed question and answer, signaling what could be a push for the youth vote in his reelection campaign.
The 30-second video showed Biden at home watching the Super Bowl, rattling down a list of questions on the game. The caption read, jokingly, “lol hey guys.”
Peppered by a staffer in rapid-fire fashion, he refused to pick a side between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, instead pledging his allegiance to the first lady’s Philadelphia Eagles.
Biden also laughed off a question asking him who to vote for president, himself or former President Donald Trump. To no surprise, he picked himself.
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers use TikTok, but the platform has come under fire from Republicans. Congress has criticized the app’s parent company, ByteDance, for potential connections to the Chinese government.
The White House has leveraged TikTok before, but never directly, spreading messaging on COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine for creators to use, as well as hosting creators at the White House itself.
The Biden campaign launch on the app could mark an effort to win over younger voters, the app’s largest audience.
GOP primary rival Nikki Haley openly called for the U.S. government to ban the app, citing mental health risks to young people and concerns over influence from the Chinese government.
