The White House clearly had its priorities straight regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as they took the time to brief Tik Tok influencers on Thursday.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and National Security Council special adviser for communications Matt Miller met with 30 influencers to discuss messaging and answer questions on NATO, aid distribution, and Russian nuclear weapons, The Washington Post reported.
SCOOP: The Biden administration has been briefing dozens of TikTok stars about the war in Ukraine, I obtained audio of yesterday’s big briefing which shines light on how the administration is promoting their messaging w/ creators https://t.co/nTfFVlDYzI
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) March 11, 2022
Some content creators were eager to praise the administration for talking with them.
“I still cannot believe how blessed I am to have had the opportunity to attend a White House briefing yesterday to be armed with accurate information about how America is helping Ukraine and our European allies. Shoutout to all of you that helped get me here,” Democratic strategist Aaron Parnas tweeted.
“Know that this White House has Ukraine’s back. I am immensely proud that Joe Biden is our President.”
I still cannot believe how blessed I am to have had the opportunity to attend a White House briefing yesterday to be armed with accurate information about how America is helping Ukraine and our European allies. Shoutout to all of you that helped get me here. 💙
— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) March 11, 2022
According to The Hill, Parnas has accumulated a large following on Tik Tok by taking a pro-Ukranian stance on the conflict.
I’m having a hard time deciding if this is a genius move by the administration or an incredible waste of time.
On one hand, this is a smart tactic of the White House communications team, as TikTok is a major source of information for younger Americans (which is deeply concerning and almost embarrassing). By talking with these influencers, they are buttering them up to promote their talking points to the impressionable masses.
The solutions coming from the Biden administration on the conflict in Ukraine are less likely to be questioned by some of the young people in the United States if their preferred mass media is presenting its perspective as completely unflawed. Democrats already expect mainstream media outlets to perform their public relations for them, and they are now getting ahead of the curve by bringing influencers to the table.
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On the other hand, this feels laughable. I’m all for outreach to Generation Z and Millennials in political circles; however, there ought to be a global conflict (or at least a TikTok) exception. The best the administration could do for oil executives was a meeting with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and a few other officials, yet TikTok stars got the ear of the press secretary and a National Security Council adviser.
If I’m an American pinching pennies in order to drive to work, I would be offended if I found out there was any high-level staffer spending time talking with social media personalities right now. The White House would likely argue that it’s the job of communications people like Psaki to work with influencers, but her team should really be working on the numerous dumpster fires that are generating Biden’s abysmal approval ratings.
For starters, they should refine their spin on gas prices.
A frequent critique from conservatives regarding Democratic administrations is that they always seem more concerned with getting the approval of celebrities than average Americans. The current White House TikTok outreach only gives more credence to that assumption, even if the White House had positive intentions for holding the meeting.
