Republicans have long ceded the battleground over TikTok to the left, but one conservative wing has crossed the line and is quickly gaining power.
MAGA conservative John McEntee, CEO of the Right Stuff dating app aimed at young conservatives, has gone all-in on TikTok, using humor, sarcasm and the occasional scathing attack on the left to amass an astounding 3.3 million followers on his account, @daterightstuff.
His formula is simple: he creates short, sentence-length soundbites, often filmed over meals, ending with a sarcastic “I got it,” then repeats. Detailed policy platforms are gone, in favor of inflammatory “shitposts.”
That is exactly The Wall Street Journal It's an op-ed, but that's the point. In a world where many young voters admit to getting their news from gaming social media platforms like Discord, McEntee's TikTok account is a much-needed one. journal piece.
There are signs that McEntee has broken out beyond his gaudy follower count. The Washington Post Depicting her feud with a liberal TikTok creator. of post I explained some of the typical jokes.
“So the Pope is saying he can't vote for Trump because of his harsh immigration policies.” say Former Trump White House staffer John McEntee, a Newport Beach, California, native, told his 3.3 million followers before munching on a saucy meatball: “You know what other country has strict immigration policies? Heaven.”
“So MAGA says Kamala can't be president because her parents are immigrants, but Trump's mother was born in Scotland so it's ok?” joke Comedian Walter Masterson Before dipping her sandwich in sprinkles, she sent a message to her 2.4 million followers from New York City.Understood.”
McEntee's interactions with Masterson, the left-wing comedian, “have certainly not negatively impacted our account,” McEntee said. post“The more attention it gets, the better, I guess,” he said, calling Masterson's video “mostly in fun.”
But in an environment filled with progressives, McEntee, a conservative, is a lone wolf.
“TikTok is known as a left-leaning platform, and not many conservatives were keen to get on board,” McEntee told Breitbart News. “It gained traction initially by lightly poking fun at liberals. It has proved to be a very effective weapon for conservatives, so Republicans' efforts to ban it are absurd and self-inflicted.”
Washington insiders who pride themselves on sticking their heads in ties and speaking to their parents' generation on cable TV may scorn McEntee's approach, but he's filling an important void, reaching a generation of voters that Republicans have struggled to reach.
“It's reaching a different demographic that Fox News and other traditional cable news outlets can't reach,” McEntee told Breitbart.
McEntee certainly knows how to work traditional media and politics more broadly: In the final days of the Trump administration, she was promoted to White House director of personnel affairs and is widely credited with overhauling hiring policies to favor candidates with a track record of supporting Trump's America First policies, rather than simply memorizing interview talking points.
He understands that authenticity is important in politics, but in the stuffy world of Washington, it can often be overlooked as stiff talking points, delivered from top to bottom, take priority over original, spontaneous communication.
Those formulaic talking points might reach baby boomers on Facebook or politicians glued to Twitter, and they might even land a home run in the form of a hit on Fox, but McEntee believes conservatives can turn to TikTok for an easier single hit to reach voters who aren't going to wake up in the morning and steal the newspaper off their front porch.
“Raw, short-form content is popular and can be shot anywhere, anytime on an iPhone,” McEntee told Breitbart. “More conservatives should do that.”
Many Republicans, as well as China hawks on the left, oppose TikTok because of its owner ByteDance's close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The Justice Department has said TikTok sent highly personal data about its U.S. users to the Chinese Communist Party, allowing it to profile the app's users based on their stances on issues like gun control and abortion.
Congress passed a law that would mean TikTok and ByteDance will be banned in the U.S. in 2024 if they do not cut ties by mid-January. The legal battle is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
But there's no denying the app's popularity, as a congressional receptionist quickly noticed during the legislative battle: Phone lines at the Capitol went down in response to TikTok calls from users to contact Congress and protest the bill.
The parliamentary secretariat was surprised because the calls were coming not only from younger voters but also from retirees.
With just weeks to go until the 2024 election, another key Republican is backing the policy, at least for now.
President Trump, who had expressed skepticism about the app, is now a TikTok user himself, having gained millions of followers and campaigned in its defense since joining in June.
More staunch elements within the Republican Party may be slow to understand, but ultimately appealing to voters where they are may lead to victory.
“We can't be picky about where we reach voters when it's becoming increasingly difficult to reach them.” explanation Eric Wilson, executive director of the Center for Campaign Innovation and a Republican digital strategist.
Democrats are far ahead when it comes to using TikTok to reach voters, but if Republicans one day catch up or use the app effectively, McEntee deserves to be remembered as a pioneer.
Bradley Jay is Capitol Hill correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter. Translator.
