Former President Barack Obama is trying his hardest to grow the Democratic Party's base, including partnering with a popular TikTok creator to appeal to younger voters on National Voter Registration Day.
Creators involved in the effort, which reaches more than 30 million people across social media, will be working with Obama to release a video urging voters to visit IWillVote.com and register, a spokesperson for Obama told The Hill.
“As part of President Obama's ongoing efforts to mobilize young voters, he has engaged with content creators and activists in locations including the Oval Office in Washington, DC and during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago,” the spokesperson wrote.
“President Obama spoke about the importance of elections and making sure everyone is registered to vote, and he also had some fun,” they added.
The creators' engagement with the former president has already brought thousands of visitors to the website, expanding the party's national effort to reach new, younger voters with less than 50 days until the 2024 election.
Obama has already partnered with comedian and impersonator Matt Friend, podcast hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan of the “I've Had It” podcast, and music executive Carter Gregory, according to his office.
Former President Barack Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, endorsed Harris shortly after President Biden decided to drop out of the race in July, and the two also delivered compelling speeches at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this summer.
President Obama made a similar effort last August, using the video-sharing app to encourage potential Gen Z voters to register to vote and tout the accomplishments of his administration.
Democrats have a prickly relationship with the short-video app, run by the Chinese company ByteDance. Biden signed a bill in April that could have led to a ban on TikTok, even though his now-defunct reelection campaign joined the app in February. Harris' 2024 presidential campaign also launched a TikTok page shortly after announcing her candidacy for the White House.
Harris' political rival, former President Trump, had previously supported banning TikTok but reversed course this year, urging voters this month to support Harris if they want to “save TikTok.”
“The other side is trying to shut it down, but I'm now a big star on TikTok,” said the Republican candidate, who now has more than 11 million followers. Followers In the app.
The effort to target younger voters comes after the Harris campaign recently launched its own effort to encourage young voters, especially in battleground states, to register to vote. The team aims to engage with potential supporters both online and in person, with a variety of events planned on college campuses in battleground states.
“The stakes in the November election couldn't be higher, and Vice President Harris knows our democracy is stronger when we all vote,” Julie Chavez Rodriguez, campaign manager for the Harris-Waltz campaign, said in a statement.
“Our focus is on meeting young Americans wherever they are and helping them understand the importance of this election on the issues they care about most, and that when we vote, we win,” she added.
