The Democratic Party invited 200 social media influencers to its national convention in Chicago this week.
Attendees can pose for selfies with celebrities like Barack Obama, enjoy cocktail receptions with figures like Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and some will even speak on the main stage.
Social media has become a central battleground for both the Democratic and Republican parties to win decisive votes in the November presidential election.
Kamala Harris’ campaign team hopes to mobilize around 5,000 online influencers by then, sources familiar with the efforts told the Washington Post.
Each of these creators could have a significant impact on the election.
“Think about the number of followers a single content creator has. Elections have been won or lost by so many people – we can help narrow that gap,” said Blair Imani Ali, creator of the video series “Smarter in Seconds,” which has 640,000 followers on Instagram and 145,000 on TikTok.
Ali interviewed Whitmer at the DNC for her platform and the two exchanged copies of her recently published books.
“They know we can reach young people and do it in a more down-to-earth way, so we’re going full throttle,” she added to The Post.
The social media buzz has reached its peak since Joe Biden withdrew and Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket – Ali even adds that she only decided to participate after Biden decided not to run for re-election – but the Biden team has been working with influencer group Village Marketing since 2020.
Social media agency founder Vickie Segar and deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty discussed their strategy of appointing content creators to assist the campaign last year, sources add, most recently deploying a handful of village marketing staffers at Democratic campaign headquarters.
Harris, 59, faces an uphill battle as Trump, 78, and his digital team have long had the advantage due to their enormous social media reach and ability to post timely memes and videos.
Trump has 90 million followers on X compared to Kamala’s 21 million, 10.4 million on TikTok compared to Harris’ 4.6 million, and 26 million on Instagram compared to Harris’ 17.6 million – making him much less dependent on influencers.
His campaign team also points out that his candidate has used social media for extensive interviews, including appearing on mega-influencer Logan Paul’s podcast and recently participating in a 45-minute public chat with X owner Elon Musk on X Spaces.
“There’s a difference between influence and influencers. You have Harry Sisson just shouting into a Democratic echo chamber, we work with individuals who have a huge, bipartisan audience that might be curious about Trump,” Trump campaign adviser Alex Bruesewitz told the Post.
“The same corporate media that allowed Biden to pull the wool over people’s eyes is doing the same thing to Kamala … she doesn’t give an interview but awkwardly appears in a seven-second TikTok,” said Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign.
“Everything about Trump is authentic and organic, whereas people are trying to make Kamala cool because she can’t do it herself.”
While the Harris campaign does not pay influencers (unlike some political action committees), it does seek out and vet those it wants to work with – and provides them with talking points and up-to-date information about the campaign.
“This is the most I’ve ever spent on a week in a hotel,” Kory Aversa, a publicist with nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram and 129,000 on TikTok who was invited to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), told The Post.
He said it was worth being part of a “historic event,” noting that it was “the first time ever that they invited creative people.”
Others were excited by the prospect of meeting powerful allies and networking with major donors.
“If they want to arrange a meeting between me and Mike Bloomberg, why not?” said a source.
The Harris campaign is also targeting content creators in swing states to gain votes and make decisions based not only on the influencers’ follower count.
“I feel like a rock star because I’m from Pennsylvania,” Aversa joked, before adding the importance of authentic voices.
“Some of the micro-influencers (those with fewer than 100,000 followers) have a loyal following and provide information to their followers in a very personal way,” he added.
Republican strategists are quick to note that Harris’s new push toward influencers can be seen as a way to avoid stern and serious journalists who will confront her with difficult questions, while still getting press and staying in the public eye. Some are skeptical that this tactic will work.
“Harris’ campaign was extremely dependent on large, influential accounts and celebrities to bolster her reputation,” a source close to Trump told the Washington Post.
“The model is similar to the Hillary campaign in 2016, but it didn’t work then and it won’t work now.”
“She’s a prosecutor who made San Francisco a security risk and was a minor vice president… you can’t make that ‘cool.'”
