The US presidential race has officially entered its “TikTok era”. Gone are the days of relying exclusively on traditional campaign ads delivered between news segments. Instead, with a third Among U.S. adults under 30 who get their news on the platform, leading candidates have turned directly to their voters’ TikTok feeds to boost their campaign visibility and take reputational hits against their opponents. Candidates and their teams produce content that is often heavily coded with memes, pop culture references and “netspeak.” Given TikTok’s report 1 billion monthly active users Worldwide, the advent of the app as an arena for political content in democracies was inevitable. Yet this uptick in voting activity stands in stark contrast to the growing recognition in Washington – including among the presidential candidates themselves – that TikTok poses a national security threat due to its ownership based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
TikTok has already been forbidden on US government devices for data security reasons and on the US intelligence community pointed out The PRC is trying to influence the elections through the platform. In April 2024, US President Joe Biden signed legislation this requires TikTok to divest from its parent company, ByteDance, by January 19, 2025, or risk being removed from the Google Play and Apple app stores – a de facto ban. TikTok and ByteDance filed a complaint in May to block the law, and the Justice Department defended since noting that “the serious national security threat posed by TikTok is real.” An appeals court heard oral arguments September 16with the possibility of an accelerated decision December before the law comes into force.
Neither uncertainty about TikTok’s future in the United States nor fear that the PRC could control the scale of American political debates through its algorithm have stopped presidential candidates from flocking to the platform. In fact, the context of precarity coincided with an increase in dynamic campaign activity on the app. Candidates deployed unconventional toolkits including memes, influencers, trending sounds and pop culture brands to amass millions of followers and gain credibility with GenZ voters. Although republishing content and maintaining a long-term online presence, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did, can be a path to slow and steady growth, the publications of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump that led to a rapid expansion of tracking are broadcast directly on the Internet. culture by capitalizing on the slang and humor of America’s youngest voters. In 2024, TikTok’s first — and perhaps only — chapter of presidential politics, even the app’s critics could be the same faces that appear most on your feed.
Here’s how US presidential and vice-presidential candidates are using TikTok:
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris now has two TikTok accounts: her campaign inherited an account from the Biden campaign (@kamalahq), and she launched another personal account (@kamalaharris) on July 25.
Joe Biden/Kamala Harris campaign
Joined TikTok: February 2024 (“bidenhq”) and July 2024 (account renamed “kamalahq”)
Number of followers: 427,000 (for Biden when he withdrew from the race, compared to around 38 million on X and 17 million on Instagram during the same period); 4.4 million in September, almost two months after the account was transferred to Harris (compared to 21 million on X and 18.4 million on Instagram)
Tastes: 134.2 million
Style: coded by brats and driven by memes
Post Types: The Harris campaign account received considerable attention online, in part by capitalizing on a shout-out about X from popstar Charli “brat”, which contains songs that encourage recklessness, boldness and lack of excuses). In general, Harris’ content relies on trending sounds and pop culture references. The Biden campaign’s messaging has also focused on viral sounds and memes, largely to criticize Trump’s reputation.
Notable examples:
- Harris’ second post featured a slideshow of side-by-side images of Trump and his set to the track “Femininomenon” by pop singer Chappell Roan. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8dur8Le/
- Harris’ posts are riddled with comments celebrating “Project Coconut,” a term that combines allusions to a viral sound clip of Harris referencing coconut trees in a speech with the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” plan.
- One of Biden’s most popular posts, which garnered 1.2 million views, featured a still image of Trump containing the text “Dance or don’t commit 34 crimes” superimposed on a video, likely intelligence-generated artificial (AI), of Trump performing a viral TikTok dance to the song “Bop” by Big Boogie and DJ Drama. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8duDCka/
Key themes: The campaign account frequently features clips of young campaign staffers attacking Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, by stitching together video and audio from their media appearances and interviews. The account also increasingly promotes Harris campaign videos and “fan edits” (stitched-together videos of Harris set to uplifting music).
Kamala Harris (staff):
Joined TikTok: July 25, 2024
Number of followers: 5.5 million (1.6 million in its first 16 hours)
Tastes: 46.6 million
Style: independent and focused on music
Message types: Harris’ personal account features professionally filmed content showing the vice president making public appearances at political rallies, sometimes with celebrities, and debuting her running mate, Tim Walz.
Notable examples:
- Harris posted footage from a rally in Detroit, set to Beyoncé’s hit song, “Freedom.” The camera pans from Harris stepping off the plane into a large crowd of supporters. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8dufpmW/
- One of Harris’ most popular posts to date, which has garnered 34.3 million views, features a clip from a political rally and is set to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” in which Harris challenges Trump in a debate and states “If you ‘I have something to say, say it to my face. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8dudKXo/
Key themes: Harris’ personal posts often feature content using scenic shots and uplifting music to create impressions of power and momentum. While the account plays with TikTok-centric themes, including using trendy sounds and selfie-style celebrity endorsements (including America Ferrera and Megan Thee Stallion), Harris’ personal account does not rely on memes like “kamalahq” does.
Position on the future of TikTok: Consistent with the Biden administration’s position, the Harris campaign said to Axios: “We don’t want to ban TikTok. … We would just like to see a change in ownership. Harris herself cited “very significant” profits for the platform and national security concerns related to its ownership.
Donald Trump
Like Harris, Trump created two TikTok accounts: his personal account (@realdonaldtrump) and a campaign account (@teamtrump).
Donald Trump (personal)
Joined TikTok: eearly June 2024
Number of followers: 11.2 million in September (compared to 90.8 million on X and 26.6 million on Instagram)
Tastes: 49.6 million
Style: dramatic, influencer-driven and sloganized
Message types: Trump’s messages often feature shorter sound bites and slogans from speeches and public engagements overlaid with videos of his appearances and interactions with voters at campaign events and rallies. Trump’s posts also featured influencers Logan and Jake Paul, whose TikTok followers number 18.7 and 18 million, respectively.
Notable examples:
- One of Trump’s messages features a clip from a campaign rally during which he declares, “Kamala, you’re fired,” a nod to a slogan he popularized during his appearance on the talk show. reality TV show “The Apprentice”. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8dudwhQ/
- In another post, Trump uses a slightly shorter, meme-focused format. The video shows Trump confronting influencer Jake Paul in a boxing stance, with the text overlaid “POV: 100 days left until President Trump delivers another knockout.”
