On a Friday afternoon in late April, President Biden brought together celebrities and elite social media influencers for a reception at the White House. Fran Drescher and David Cross joined rugby star Ilona Maher and V from @underthedesknews on a mixer designed to produce warm feelings and much-needed pro-Biden content.
Jonathan M. Katz, an independent journalist and fierce critic of the government, was shocked to receive an invitation. When he met Mr. Biden, he specifically asked about military aid to Israel and suggested that he supported “genocide.” Mr. Biden responded politely but then seemed to grow impatient. “I know you’re a typical press man,” he said. “I trust you as far as I can throw your phone.” Helpers then led Mr. Katz away.
The episode, which Mr. Katz videotaped and shared with his roughly 100,000 followers, was one of several clumsy attempts by Mr. Biden to drum up excitement online about his candidacy.
For months, the president’s campaign has had to watch as his rival Donald J. Trump exploited his popularity on the Internet. Mr. Trump’s supporters produce an endless stream of memes, videos and enthusiastic posts — all essentially free advertising — that reach an increasingly important segment of voters.
Mr. Biden and his allies are working hard to build a similar online army, trying to persuade or, in some cases, pay people to sing the praises of Mr. Biden to their large following. They note that social media feeds are difficult terrain for an 81-year-old president whose Gaza and immigration policies are unpopular on the left.
“It’s clear that we need to leverage influencers or creatives to reach the future of the progressive movement,” said Brian Rolling, co-founder of MurMur Impact, a group that advocates for liberal causes to mobilize Generation Z voters. “But we talk to a lot of young people and they just don’t agree with Biden.”
The president’s campaign is working to change that. While he often avoids interviews with legacy media outlets, he has allowed time for one-on-one time with fellow social media personalities, like Daniel Mac, who has gained more than 20 million online followers by asking people, “How do you make a living?” Your livelihood?”
(The video of Mr. Biden, filmed at the Detroit Auto Show, went viral, garnering 40 million views on TikTok — but it fell far short of the 60 million views Mr. Mac received for an interaction with the founder of an Italian supercar maker who doesn’t speak English.)
Influencers received exclusive tours of the White House and campaign headquarters and were invited to briefings with political advisors. They were wined and dined at lavish parties in New York and at “State of the Union” parties at the White House. And they were promised exceptional access to party officials at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, where for the first time ever they would be given their own room equipped with quiet spaces for filming videos.
At least one was offered an interview with the president at the congress but said he was asked not to bring up Gaza.
Priorities USA, a super PAC backing Mr. Biden’s campaign, has pledged to spend at least $1 million on influencers, some of whom are paid to share talking points online. The Democratic National Committee is using a smartphone app to train thousands of volunteers on how to share content on their social networks.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $150,000 in March to hire an influencer marketing agency. And in late April, the Biden campaign — which said it doesn’t pay influencers for content — paid nearly $2 million to hire Village Marketing, an influencer agency, to run its social media outreach program.
The money pales in comparison to the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars that campaigns spend on traditional television advertising and mailings. But it is widely seen as crucial to Mr Biden’s re-election chances.
According to the Pew Research Center, half of American adults say they get some or all of their news from platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. The statistics are even more striking among young people: almost a third of 18 to 29 year olds find out about news on TikTok.
Polls suggest Mr Biden is struggling with these voters. In a recent NBC poll, Mr. Biden had a significant advantage among voters who regularly consume traditional news. But Mr. Trump clearly led those among those who said they rely primarily on social media for information, an advantage that expanded to more than 25 points over those who don’t follow political news at all .
“It would be negligence on our part not to meet voters where they are,” said Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, co-founder and vice president of Way to Win, a group that connects Democratic donors with political strategists and has begun to be heavily involved in public outreach Investing with influencers.
The Biden campaign began working with influencers late last year and says its efforts will begin to bear fruit over the summer. “Our 2024 partnership program has expanded significantly, starting earlier than ever before and with more employees dedicated to the work,” said Mia Ehrenberg, campaign spokesperson.
However, this project was difficult for Mr. Biden.
While the White House has hired several former Instagram employees, the campaign’s top social media position, tasked with overseeing the recruitment and use of influencers, has been vacant for five months.
Mr Biden’s policies on the war in Gaza have angered not only supporters of the Palestinians but also pro-Israel voices who object to his calls for a ceasefire. He has also taken the brunt of outrage over a bill he signed in April that would ban TikTok in the United States if it is not sold, even though it was a proposal originally put forward by Mr. Trump. (The former president has since changed his position.)
And allies’ attempts to tout achievements like capping the cost of insulin or eliminating some student debt were drowned out by liberals more focused on the administration’s drilling and pipeline decisions or an increasingly tough stance on immigration.
The enthusiasm gap is measurable, especially on TikTok.
Since February, when the Biden campaign officially joined the platform, it has posted more than 200 times and gained just over 375,000 followers. Mr Trump only joined TikTok less than two weeks ago but already has 6.2 million followers.
“They invite a few people to the White House, they host dinners,” said Grace Murray Vazquez, vice president of strategy at social media marketing agency Fohr, who said it did work with the Biden campaign in 2020 , but this has not yet been contacted this year. “That’s a drop in the ocean.”
An event took place last month at the Eaton, a four-star hotel in the heart of Washington. Way to Win, Future Forward, Mr. Biden’s main super PAC, and the Hub Project, another progressive group, invited about 140 influencers to Washington for a three-day event called “Trending Up.”
Attendees were celebrated with a rooftop sushi spread, an open bar and a tour of the Capitol.
But sentiment soured, at least among some, after about a dozen attendees received surprise emails inviting them to the White House, sparking weeks of controversial accusations online that they and other pro-Biden creators were “government officials.” “that would be paid for it, Mr. Biden.
“The inherent distrust of authority was present throughout the conference,” said Sean Szolek-VanValkenburgh, who has 1.6 million followers on TikTok who come to see her obscure posts about legal terms of service. (That’s more than double the New York Times’ following on this site.) Mx. Szolek-VanValkenburgh did not receive an invitation, but said they did not accept the invitation either.
Julian Sarafian, a lawyer who represents influencers and posts on legal topics, was invited. He then created a video of himself dancing outside the White House to a Kendrick Lamar song while a list of “Biden’s White House victories” appears on the screen.
“You want people who are unwavering and consistent with their messages,” said Mr. Sarafian, who has 320,000 TikTok followers.
It may be difficult for Mr. Biden to find these people. Joshua Doss, a political pollster who lives in Chicago and writes about politics, race and basketball, was recently contacted by Village Marketing, the firm hired by the Biden campaign, and offered the president a possible interview at the Democratic National Convention.
But Mr. Doss was put off when the agency specifically asked him to avoid discussing the war in the Middle East. “I couldn’t imagine going to my audience, given how upset they are about his handling of the issue, without talking to him about Gaza,” Mr. Doss said.
He initially declined, but later said he would agree on the condition that he be allowed to ask a “tough question” about the impact of the economy on the black population.
Village Marketing did not respond to requests for comment. The Biden campaign declined to comment on the discussions.
Ryan Davis, co-founder of People First, an influencer agency that advocates for liberal causes, said Democrats should seek out micro-influencers with as few as 2,000 followers and ask them to create posts that focus on issues rather than mentioning Mr. Biden namely.
Such “softer messages” require few or no disclosures under federal rules, he noted, which can make them feel more authentic — even if the influencer elaborates on predetermined talking points. Microinfluencers often accept offers for just a few hundred dollars, making it possible to attract dozens or even hundreds of friendly voices to a single messaging campaign, thereby funding the semblance of mass support.
That can be more powerful than a $300,000 deal with a single superstar, Mr. Davis said.
“This is not a Greek play where God comes down and saves us, deus ex machina, with Taylor Swift,” Mr. Davis said. “It will be a very hard-fought race.”
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2024-06-14 10:51:32
www.nytimes.com
