Biden welcomes TikTokers and influencers to cover his State of the Union and push his support to Gen Z'rs as polls show him underwater with young voters

President Joe Biden hosted a young group of social media influencers at the White House this week as part of his State of the Union address.

Despite the president's advanced age, White House staff continue looking for ways to make an impact on social media, where most young people get their news and information.

Over 70 social media figures were present for a meeting at the White House on Wednesday according to Wired magazine.

Biden's Senior Advisor Anita Dunn spoke to the group about the president's upcoming speech, domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden spoke to them about what Biden was trying to do on the issue of student loans, and First Gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke to them about Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Emily Amick who posts videos under the handle @emilyinyourphone, with 135,000 followers on Instagram went to the briefing and posted about it on her account.

President Joe Biden is preparing social media stars for his upcoming State of the Union address

Emily Amick, who posts videos under the handle @emilyinyourphone recalled how she struggled in journalism school when she told teachers that paper newspapers were dead. 

'I went to a briefing for political influencers at the White House today in anticipation of the State of the Union, and while there told someone the story of how I almost got kicked out of journalism school because I kept insisting that paper newspapers are ☠️ and disaggregated news online is the future,' she wrote. '15+ years later it’s wild to be experiencing this change as it is happening. I’m not sure I would say it’s going well, but it’s going and I’m glad folks in power are acknowledging that.'

Johnny Palmadessa was also in attendance, a self-identified 'Gen Z' activist and Democrat strategist. Palmadessa has over 100,000 followers on Threads, 16,000 followers on Instagram and 26,000 followers on TikTok. 

Palmadessa told the Daily Mail he was appreciative of the White House outreach. 

'They have demonstrated a genuine commitment to engaging with us directly and meeting us on our terms,' he said. 

 Palmadessa said the social in-person event brought a lot of people together who knew each other from their work on social media platforms.  

'Meeting other activists, strategists, and influencers in person was inspiring,' he said. 

Aaron Parnas, an attorney and Substack writer shared a photo of himself at the White House with the caption, 'The state of our union is strong.'

Keith Edwards, a Democratic strategist with 52,000 followers was also there, posting a photo of himself at the briefing room podium. 

Keith Edwards, a Democratic strategist posted an image of himself with the caption 'Fake News'

Aaron Parnas posted a picture of himself at the White House calling the State of the Union 'strong.'

More social media publishers were expected to meet with White House officials on Thursday.

While President Joe Biden is expected to meet with the more traditional television media anchors for lunch, Vice President Kamala Harris plans to host a White House 'influencers luncheon' to help drive their message through the media.

The Biden campaign created a TikTok account for the president in January, despite widespread government concerns about the platform being used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans.

The campaign also created a communications branch tasked with 'digital persuasion.'

Cat Stern was named 'director of digital persuasion 'and Clarke Humphrey is being brought on as a 'senior adviser for digital persuasion,' according to Wired.

Both new hires are expected to work to influence social media influencers and give them access to the campaign and the president.

Polls show that Biden is doing poorly among voters under 35 who are looking at supporting former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

A New York Times poll in December showed that registered voters between the ages of 18–29 actually preferred Trump over Biden, 49 to 43 percent. A December USA Today poll also showed that Trump was leading Biden 37 percent to 33 percent.

Palmadessa said he was encouraged by the administration's outreach to Gen Z through TikTok and other social media platforms. 

'Vice President Harris is actively listening to our concerns and perspectives — she’s proven she cares time and again,' he said. 'President Biden is certainly taking after her initiative — we’ve seen that through his recent launch on TikTok. He’s meeting us where we are!'