Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes the Biden administration is "gaslighting" younger voters through social media channels like TikTok to showcase an economy that he claims doesn't exist.
In a new op-ed for Newsweek, the former Democratic Party candidate who in October changed his party affiliation in an attempt to contend for the 2024 election says that his candidacy and not those of Joe Biden and current GOP front runner Donald Trump is the best to assuage despondent young American voters who have become politically apathetic.
The 2024 election has been dubbed as "America's first TikTok election," which some argue can have unforeseen impacts on all the presidential nominees due to wide-ranging and varied opinions—including some content perhaps not based in reality, in the form of a barrage of videos that could purport a doom-and-gloom outlook and hurt an incumbent like Biden.
More recently, the Biden campaign has reportedly weighed extending its campaign outreach on the platform to reach a younger generation of voters notorious for constantly sharing their views on the heavily used social network.
"Instead of addressing the real economic problems of the Millennial generation, the Biden administration pays TikTok influencers to 'tell positive stories of Biden's economic stewardship,' to draw attention away from viral videos about expensive burgers and the exploding cost of living," Kennedy said. "Biden's government is gaslighting young Americans to believe that the economy is better than it really is."
The burgers he referenced date back to a $16 McDonald's purchase from December 2022 that gained significant traction on TikTok and was picked up by multiple media outlets.
Topher Olive, of Post Falls, Idaho, was the customer who posted his fast food receipt on the platform. However, the purchase has unraveled to show Olive purchasing a special limited edition "smoky" double quarter pounder BLT with fries and a Sprite.
As inflation has driven costs up since the Biden administration took hold in January 2021, videos about McDonald's meals such as these have drawn millions of views online—even when they're not completely accurate.
This consumer's story in particular drew the attention of the White House Office of Digital Strategy, according to The Washington Post, which tracked the videos for exaggerated economic impact.
But Kennedy fired back at The Post for its characterization of the story, sarcastically saying in a post on X earlier this month that "bad people are spreading bad misinformation to make you think the economy is ailing...when in fact, Everything is awesome!"
"So if you are barely making your credit card minimum payments, if you can't afford child care, if you are one of those Americans waiting in line at the food banks, if you are priced out of a home... well, don't you know that GDP is growing and inflation is down and unemployment is...Therefore the White House's solution to economic despair is — better messaging!" he wrote.
"Or in other words, propaganda. The Biden administration is actually PAYING TikTok influencers to 'tell positive stories of Biden's economic stewardship.' Yep, the word for that is 'propaganda.' That's what the Soviet Union used to do. Not America."
The Federal Reserve has maintained its benchmark borrowing rate between 5.25 percent and 5.5 percent. U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen said last week that inflation rates have mellowed to 3.1 percent and that pandemic-era supply chain and labor issues should be in the rearview, with the Fed potentially hitting its 2 percent target by the end of 2024.
'You must go to TikTok'
Kennedy says that his campaign's economic principles are more endearing to youth voters than policies enacted or proposed by Biden and Trump, and recent polls seem to validate that.
There has been a great migration of internet users away from legacy platforms like Facebook towards Instagram and TikTok, with the latter emerging as the dominant platform for Gen Z and younger millennials, Ramesh Srinivasan, professor of information studies at UCLA, told Newsweek via phone.
"If you want to go where younger potential voters, you must go to TikTok in my opinion," Srinivasan said, saying the platform has altered tech demographics. "On the other hand, this is very confounding for me.
"We see more and more many establishment politicians engaging on everything to avoiding TikTok to failing to engage directly with potential voters on TikTok, and to discuss in a bipartisan fashion the banning of TikTok. It's an indication to me of not being with the times and not being where younger voters are. It's a huge mistake to me."
A New York Times/Siena poll published in November found that among voters aged 18 to 29 in six key battleground states, Kennedy leads with 34 percent while President Joe Biden and Donald Trump are at 30 percent and 29 percent, respectively.
A survey released in early December by the non-partisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University found that one-third of young voters aged 18 to 34 remain undecided about their candidate of choice next year. Thirty-seven percent want to vote for a Democrat, while 25 percent will side with a Republican. Seven percent would vote for a third-party or independent candidate.
Those more motivated to vote prefer Democrats over Republicans by 21 percentage points.
Srinivasan said that candidates like Biden and Trump, along with myriad members of Congress, demonize TikTok as a "bad actor" due to fears of countries like China accumulating Americans' data.
There's a certain type of populism gained by making China or Russia an antagonist, he added, even though most anyone online provides data to corporate and third-party platforms all the time.
"I do think misinformation runs rampant [on TikTok] as it does on other major social media platforms," Srinivasan said. "I also know and agree with criticisms with TikTok that does incentivize content that is inflammatory or will get a rise in us."
But the elephant in the room for both major presidential candidates, he added, is that voters aged 18 to 45 are showing less support than they did in anticipation of the 2020 election. For people like Kennedy who are making a willful attempt to court young voters, it could pay dividends down the road.
"People need to see that this president, particularly given his age and health issues, is vibrant and robust and willing to mix it up and has a strong vision than just avoiding Trump at all costs...There's a concern about not getting in front of voters or the media, frankly, and avoiding people on a platform where many people now get their news," he said. "Quite frankly, I'm shocked they haven't gotten on this [platform]."
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
