Social media influencers cool to Biden after backlash from followers: ‘People my age do not want to vote for you’
Social media influencers who have backed President Biden said they are losing thousands of followers over backlash to his policies and his attacks on Donald Trump — with many vowing they won’t vote for him.
Jae Gurley, a 24-year-old black transgender fashion creator with more than 1.7 million TikTok followers, told the Washington Post on Friday that she was turned off by the Biden campaign’s negative messaging.
“You don’t need to tell me how bad Trump is. I know that, you don’t think I know that?” she told the publication on Friday.
“You need to tell me how great you are, so I can go and convince other people to, because people my age do not want to vote for you.”
The anti-Biden sentiment among younger voters is the latest headache for the president’s campaign, which has been thrown into turmoil following his disastrous debate performance as well as lingering doubts about his cognitive fitness and stamina.
Months before Biden’s debate debacle, Gurley was among a handful of social media influencers invited by the president’s granddaughter Finnegan Biden for a roundtable discussion on how to reach Gen Z voters.
The meeting, held in Manhattan on March 28, reportedly grew tense after some of the influencers criticized the president for signing a law that potentially bans TikTok in the US and his support for Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip to root out Hamas terrorists.
Gurley said that before the meeting she posted a “get ready with me” video to gin up excitement about the event.
But the influencer declined to make a similar post-event recap video due to fear of a backlash — particularly over anger towards Biden’s policies on Israel.
“It is putting our brand on the line,” Gurley told the Washington Post.
“You cannot talk in regards to the Biden administration without acknowledging what is going on in Gaza.”
Others in attendance with a massive social media following included Olivia Ponton, 22; Deja Foxx, 24; and Chloe Lukasiak, 23.
Lukasiak, who boasts more than 8 million followers on Instagram and more than 4 million on TikTok, posted a photo on Instagram of her and Finnegan Biden at the event.
But commenters inundated the feed with negative remarks in reaction to the photo — prompting Lukasiak to delete the post.
Lukasiak said that she “knew there would be intense disagreement with my opinions” when initially posting the photo.
Despite the outcry from her followers, she said she still intends to vote for the president.
“Just because I support one candidate doesn’t mean I completely agree with every policy or every action they’ve taken,” Lukasiak said.
“I would never pressure my audience to vote one way or another, but I will be advocating for Biden. And I think obviously that will draw some hate, but I hope in the end it just empowers people to care about politics.”
Jeremy Jacobowitz, a 37-year-old food influencer based in Manhattan, told The Washington Post that his pro-Biden content has cost him thousands of online followers.
One commenter wrote on his social media page that Biden “is a walking corpse being controlled by squirrels.”
When asked about the backlash, Jacobowitz said: “I do not care.”
“If all I ever do is tell people where to eat a cheeseburger, I think it’s a complete waste.”
The Post has sought comment from the Biden campaign.
