WASHINGTON (AP) — Social media influencers got the royal treatment at the White House on Wednesday as President Joe Biden gave a nod to their ability to hold sway with millions of loyal followers.
The White House played host to a group of more than 100 influencers, also known as content creators, across a range of media platforms — from chefs and makeup artists to fitness gurus and medical students — to talk about issues including mental health, pay equity and the abuse of artificial intelligence.
Biden stopped by to tell the influencers gathered in the Indian Treaty Room in the White House complex: "The fact is, you are the future."
“You’re the source of the news,” he said. “You are the new possibilities. You are the new breakthrough in how we communicate.”
Biden added, to laughter: "And that’s why I invited you to the White House, because I’m looking for a job."
Those in attendance included makeup artist Jackie Aina, chef My Nguyen and medical student Joel Bervell. Together, the influencers count millions of followers.
In showcasing the importance and heft of the content creator economy — valued at roughly $250 billion worldwide — the White House is also recognizing the youth vote that will be a crucial constituency for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump in the November election.
In late July, a coalition of 17 youth-led groups endorsed the vice president. The youth-led progressive organizations had warned for months that Biden, 81, had a problem with young voters, pleading with the president to work more closely with them to refocus on issues most important to younger generations or risk losing their votes. They're hoping Harris can harness a new explosion of energy among young voters.
Trump has also spent time courting influencers. Notably, his campaign is counting on younger male voters to give him the edge in November.
Trump participated in an interview last week with Twitch streamer and online personality Adin Ross, who has more than 7 million Instagram followers. The internet personality ended his interview with the former president by gifting him a Tesla Cybertruck wrapped in images of Trump raising his fist after the assassination attempt against him.
The White House event comes as the Biden administration is embroiled in a legal battle with TikTok over a federal law that will determine the future of the platform in the U.S.
Many creators who earn income on TikTok have opposed the law, which requires TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the popular platform to a U.S.-approved buyer or face a ban.
In May, TikTok and ByteDance sued to block the law, arguing divestment isn’t commercially, legally or technologically possible and that they would have to shut down the platform in the U.S. by January 19 if the law were to go into effect.
The measure was passed after it received bipartisan backing in Congress and by top-level administration officials who expressed concerns about how the Chinese government could influence ByteDance.
TikTok was previously in negotiations with the Biden administration to resolve some of those concerns. However, those talks fizzled out before the two sides reached a deal.
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Hadero contributed from South Bend, Indiana.