President Biden’s new campaign account gained more than 67,000 TikTok followers in its first day on the Chinese-owned app, which he banned over national security concerns.
The @bidenhq account’s follower count has skyrocketed to nearly 82,000 followers and more than 681,300 likes as of Tuesday morning.
This is still far from the 37.8 million followers of Biden’s campaign account X (formerly Twitter).
The account’s first TikTok video, released during Sunday’s Super Bowl game, was captioned, “LOL, guys.” Biden, wearing khaki slacks and a navy sweater, stood with his hands in his pockets as he took a series of questions. When asked, “Chiefs or Niners?” Biden replied, “Two great quarterbacks, it’s hard to decide, but if you didn’t say Eagles, I would be sleeping alone.” My wife is a Philadelphia girl.” When asked whether he prefers games or commercials or games or halftime shows, Biden said twice: games.
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President Biden speaks at the National Conference of County Legislatures in Washington, Monday, February 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Jason Kelsey or Travis Kelsey?” someone asked from behind the camera. “Mama Kelce. I know she makes great chocolate chip cookies,” Biden said.
“Are there some insidious plots to rig the season so the Chiefs can go to the Super Bowl? Or are the Chiefs just a good football team?” the voice asked again.
“You’re going to get in trouble if you say that,” Biden responded, as the video briefly cut to a Dirk Brandon meme.
“Trump or Biden?” The screen showed a slightly tanned Mr. Trump, wearing a Make America Great Again hat and polo shirt, and Mr. Biden, smiling and wearing a suit in his official portrait, side by side. , he was asked. “Are you kidding me?” the president ended the video with a laugh. “Biden”
Biden’s re-election campaign on Monday targeted younger voters, even as the Biden administration continues to raise security concerns about popular social media apps sharing user data with China’s Communist government. defended the new account as an important means of increasing its appeal.
In 2022, Biden will ban approximately 4 million federal employees from using TikTok on agency-owned devices, with limited exceptions for law enforcement, national security, and national security research purposes. signed a bill to do so.
TikTok, which has 150 million users in the United States, is best known for its short snippets of viral dance routines. However, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) told I’m proud to be there,” he posted.
“The president’s TikTok debut last night, with more than 5 million views and counting, is a new way to reach voters in an evolving, fragmented, and increasingly personalized media environment. This is a positive validation of both our commitment and success in finding innovative ways to do so,” Rob Flaherty, Biden’s deputy re-election campaign manager, said in a statement Monday.
The Biden campaign said it had been considering opening a TikTok account for months, but ultimately did so at the urging of youth activists and groups who say the app is key to reaching young voters. The campaign said it uses a separate phone for TikTok to isolate its use of the app from other workstreams and communications such as email. The campaign said it was taking additional measures, but declined to name specifics, citing safety concerns.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (left) speaks with White House National Security and Communications Advisor John Kirby (right) during a press conference at the White House on Monday, February 12, 2024 in Washington. call the reporter. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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But at the White House, National Security Press Secretary John Kirby said, “There are still national security concerns about the use of TikTok on government devices, and our policy of not allowing it remains unchanged.” he admitted. Kirby deferred most questions about TikTok to the Biden campaign, avoiding more general questions about whether it was wise to use the app in the first place. He said the potential security issues “have to do with concerns about data storage and the potential misuse of that data and privacy information by foreign parties.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she had no contact with the campaign and received no advance warning that her TikTok account would be made public.
The FBI and Federal Communications Commission have both warned that TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance may share user data, including browsing history, location information and biometric identifiers, with the country’s authoritarian government. Separately, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has been reviewing the app for years, unsuccessfully, while trying to force the ownership of TikTok from its parent company. The White House said Monday that a review is underway.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified about child safety during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Washington State Capitol on January 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Senator)
By Tuesday morning, three more videos had been added to Biden’s TikTok. It was captioned, “Weird bragging,” and included footage of former President Trump defending the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Another video, captioned “LOL,” showed Biden joking about his own memory and criticizing special counsel Robert Hur’s report during Monday’s D.C. meeting. .
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The account’s latest video is captioned, “He really said it…” and at a recent rally in South Carolina, President Trump says that if America’s allies don’t pay their fair share, Russia will “do what it takes.” The footage showed him encouraging people to do whatever they want. Joined NATO.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
