Influencers Boosted Biden in 2020. Now Some Are Turning on Him
In 2020, campaigning at the height of the global pandemic, the Biden campaign leaned heavily on influencers to reach young voters. Republican rivals called it a cop out — they said Biden was “hiding in his basement” — but it was hard to argue with the results of that social media-intensive strategy: Biden won voters under the age of 29 by a 26-point margin.
In 2024, the Biden campaign is doubling down, with plans to add even more than the roughly two dozen staffers who worked on the campaign’s influencer program in 2020. But this time around, there are real questions about whether that strategy will work: handpicked influencers that have been on the receiving end of overtures from the administration are noticing increased criticism of Joe Biden among their followers — particularly as it relates to the president’s handling of the crisis in Gaza — and some influencers courted by the White House are strongly considering backing alternative candidates in 2024.
George Lee Jr., who has 2.4 million followers as The Conscious Lee on TikTok, was invited to a State of the Union watch party at the White House last year. “It was a lovely experience — I’m a first generation college student from a small town in Texas, so the fact that I was able to get invited and have my work be recognized on such a platform was definitely good.” He spoke with Joe Biden, and even asked Jill Biden to dance.
But the invite didn’t buy enough goodwill to guarantee his support next November. “I would imagine I probably will never get invited again — especially with the way I’ve been so unapologetic with this Palestinian genocide that’s happening. Joe Biden is really shooting himself in the foot,” Lee tells Rolling Stone. “When we start talking about the lesser of two evils, a lot of my followers — all 3 million of them — are literally asking the question, like, ‘Damn, so the lesser of the two evils is the one that is supporting genocide? Noted, noted, noted.’”
“How I talk to my followers about it is like — and excuse my language, I’m gonna cuss — ‘Goddamn, Biden. Your weak ass is gonna rally the entire of America to be against right-wing governments? Meanwhile, you are being unrelentless, unconditional in giving support to a right-wing government?’ That’s funny.”
Lee says he would never sit an election out — “Shit, my life is impacted by policy. I’m gonna be voting” — but Joe Biden has not locked his vote in for 2024. He’s seriously considering throwing his support behind the academic and activist Cornel West, who is running an independent bid. “He’s very critical of American imperialism,” Lee says.
Polls, of course, have started to pick up on that sentiment: The latest New York Times/Siena College poll showed Biden leading Trump among registered voters under the age of 30 by a single percentage point. Surveys generally show younger voters disapprove of the way that the president is responding to the war between Israel and Hamas at a higher rate than older voters. (Not all polls agree, though: one recent YouGov survey found support for Biden’s handling of the was was higher among 18-to-29 year olds than any other age group.)
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/15/1212913674/poll-israel-hamas-war-biden-democrats-republicans
By a 61%-30% margin, respondents said their sympathies lie more with Israelis than Palestinians, but that's driven by Republicans (79%) and independents (67%), who overwhelmingly support Israel.
Democrats are split, 45%-45%.
That was November 15th, November 30th: (Nov 1-21st poll period)
https://news.gallup.com/poll/545045/americans-back-israel-military-action-gaza.aspx
- Solid majorities of Republicans (71%), men (59%), adults 55 and older (63%) and White adults (61%) approve of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
- Conversely, more than six in 10 Democrats (63%), adults younger than 35 (67%), and people of color (64%) disapprove, as do the slight majority of women (52%).
I thought it would have gone down considering the situation has only been escalating, however the propaganda is working
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/12/08/americans-views-of-the-israel-hamas-war/
Working to keep people divided enough...
At least the younger generation is better informed
The fuck do people want that think it's not going far enough???
Essay Pro