The art of modern political communication lies in “signaling”.
“Messaging” your message to the public as an elected official, party, or administration defines what your philosophical mandate is, who you want to hear it from, and how you plan to address the biggest issues facing your constituents.
Great politicians are good at it.
I would point to Presidents Clinton, Obama and Trump as the masters at this, while President George W. Bush was – and President Biden – demeaningly more clumsy and less sophisticated.
The signals Biden is sending show that he is more concerned with his legacy as an ultra-progressive figure than as a unifier.
It is unbelievable that a politician who has earned his good reputation by enduring pain and channeling it through others seems to completely underestimate how hard the country is struggling with inflation, gas prices, rising crime and the frightening possibility of entering a new war.
But it was truly shocking to see the last pathetic attempt by the Biden administration to send a signal at such a critical moment in American and world history.
Last week, the White House held a Zoom briefing for about 30 popular influencers from the social media platform TikTok.
Don’t be discouraged if you have no idea what TikTok is – most adults don’t have a clue.
This bold White House outreach campaign resulted in Ellie Zeiler (above), a TikToker with over 10 million followers, making a video explaining why gas is so expensive and why it’s not Biden’s fault.
Rob Flaherty told TikTokers that he sees their reach and possible impact as a “critical path” for the American public.
This bold White House outreach led Ellie Seiler, a TikToker with over 10 million followers, to release a video explaining why gas is so expensive and why it’s not Biden’s fault.
Zeyler, 18, who has never voted in any election due to her age, confidently echoed the same points we heard from press secretary Jen Psaki, who recited from the White House podium.
“Now that Putin has started this terrible war between Ukraine and Russia, no one wants to work with him and do international trade… so when people are afraid of war and limited resources, prices will inevitably rise,” she told her followers.
This is inaccurate at first glance.
It was Biden’s policies, and not just the war in Ukraine, that caused inflation and led to higher energy prices, and no TikTok will hide this.
But the more troubling aspect here is that the administration’s priority is feeding TikTok stars their opinions.
Let’s just call it what it is: a propaganda game on behalf of the Biden administration, using the goodwill of very young people to naively carry out their orders.
Professional journalists typically have to work and train for many years before they are allowed to question presidential representatives in the White House briefing room.
Who knew you could jump the line with a popular TikTok account where you can play pranks, dance and pose in trendy outfits?
There is a reason skilled journalists are used for this purpose – they are the least affected by an administration that is more interested in positive press than in the truth.
While TikTok influencers were spewing White House talking points, notably on rising gas prices and Putin’s role, ABC News chief Washington correspondent John Karl debunked those very talking points on Sunday’s This Week program.
“If you look at the numbers, inflation really started to pick up almost exactly when Biden came into the White House,” Carl said.
But this White House wants their opinion to be presented to the audience without context or criticism, so they shy away from difficult questions and try to sidestep the professionals by appealing to those who do not see the weakness of their arguments.
It was Biden’s policies, and not just the war in Ukraine, that caused inflation and led to higher energy prices, and no TikTok will hide this.
What could be even more dangerous than the White House’s desire to push teenagers into selling propaganda is their apparent level of comfort with TikTok being owned by China.
The main reason I don’t create content for TikTok and don’t let my daughter use it is because the headquarters of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is run by our foreign adversary.
If you take the time to read the app’s US privacy policy, you’ll learn about how TikTok plans to collect biometric identifiers and biometric information.
The data collected includes “face prints”, which are digitally recorded representations of a person’s face, and “voice prints”, which are digital recordings of a person’s unique vocal characteristics.
Why does China need this specific information from US users and all of our data?
For the same reason, he hacked into many of our largest and most important institutions.
You already know the answer to this question and you already know why it’s so dangerous.
TikTok China has been called a “Trojan horse” by The National Review and they have repeatedly made it clear that they are an organization operating in the service of the Chinese Communist Party.
China is watching and laughing at the White House and us. And all the while, the scene in the very real world around us is getting worse.
In August, TikTok comedian Benny Drama (above) was invited to the White House and made a TikTok video with Psaki, during which he joked about becoming an intern for a day.
At a time when Ukrainian maternity hospitals are bombing and killing innocent civilians, the Biden administration appears to make it their top priority to enlist the help of TikTok influencers to help get their message across to young people.
In fact, when I first saw the headlines, I would have thought it was a joke if it wasn’t for the fact that the White House has already done it.
In August, TikTok comedian Benny Drama was invited to the White House and made a TikTok video with Psaki, during which he joked about becoming an intern for a day.
It was not well received by the media or political critics.
Psaki’s involvement was deemed completely frivolous, and the whole thing seemed to be a mockery of the White House, for which Democrats rightly clung to pearls every time Trump did so.
While I didn’t vote for either Trump or Biden in the last election, I truly believed on Election Night that Biden and his administration would put an end to the insane madness that seemed to grip our country.
It seemed so clear and obvious that the only path to healing was the path to bipartisanship and peace. But what we got in return will baffle historians for decades.
If Biden somehow fails to adjust his administration in the coming months, he will be remembered as a weak Jimmy Carter-style figure who further divided our country and potentially led to another economic depression.
Maybe it would be nice for Biden to start changing things if he aligned himself with the American people instead of trying to deceive us.