Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz posted his first TikTok video with his dog Scout on Friday, jokingly calling the popular social media app “TimTok.”
“Hey everyone,” he said in the short video. “Tim’s making his first TikTok appearance with Scout at a dog park along the Mississippi River. It’s what he and I call a TimTok. Okay, Scout?”
The 60-year-old Minnesota governor is the latest politician to join TikTok. Vice President Harris created an account and began posting on the app shortly after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race last month and endorsed her for the White House.
Harris’ campaign has sought to capitalize on the online frenzy surrounding the vice president on platforms like TikTok and the social platform X, embracing memes of “brats” and coconut trees that went viral after she was named the likely Democratic nominee.
Her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, also has a TikTok account, and politicians are increasingly using the app despite concerns across both parties about the app’s ties to China and the security of U.S. user data.
Earlier this year, both the House and Senate passed legislation by large majorities that would have forced TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to exit the app or face being banned from U.S. networks and app stores. Biden signed the bill in April.
TikTok filed a lawsuit in May seeking to block the divestment or ban bill, arguing that it violates the First Amendment. The app is now facing a deadline, as ByteDance must divest from TikTok by Jan. 19 unless the president extends the deadline by 90 days.
