The Democratic Party invited 200 social media influencers to its national convention in Chicago this week.
Those attending get to pose for selfies with bigwigs such as Barack Obama, enjoy cocktail receptions with the likes of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and some will even speak on the main stage.
It’s the latest sign that social media have become a key battleground to win crucial votes in the November presidential election for both the Democratic and Republican parties.
And Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is looking to marshal some 5,000 online influencers by then, sources with knowledge of the efforts told The Post.
Every one of those creators could have a significant impact on the election.
“Consider the amount of followers even one content creator has. Elections have been won or lost by that number of people — we can help move that margin,” said Blair Imani Ali, creator of the Smarter in Seconds video series, which boasts 640,000 followers on Instagram and 145,000 on TikTok.
Ali interviewed Whitmer at the DNC for her platform, and the pair swapped copies of their recently published books.
“They know we can reach young people and reach them in a more down-to-earth way so we are firing on all cylinders,” she added to The Post.
Social media hubbub has reached a fever pitch since President Biden stepped aside and Harris moved to the top of the Democratic ticket — Ali even adds she only decided to attend after Biden decided not seek re-election — but the Biden campaign has been working with influencer group Village Marketing since 2020.
The social media agency’s founder Vickie Segar, along with deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty, last year discussed their strategy of deputizing content creators to boost the campaign, sources add. Most recently, they installed a handful of village marketing employees at the Democratic campaign headquarters.
Harris, 59, has a tough battle on her hands as Trump, 78, and his digital team have long held an advantage through his sheer reach on social media and their knack of posting timely memes and videos.
Trump has 90 million followers on X compared to Harris’ 21 million, 10.4 million on TikTok compared to her 4.6 million, and 26 million on Instagram compared to the veep’s 17.6 million — making him much less reliant on influencers.
His campaign is also quick to note how their candidate has embraced social media with long-form interviews, such as appearing on mega-influencer Logan Paul’s podcast and recently joining X owner Elon Musk for a nearly two-hour public chat on X Spaces.
“There is a difference between influence and influencers. They have Harry Sisson who just yells into a Democrat echo chamber, we collaborate with individuals who have massive nonpartisan audiences that may be Trump-curious,” Trump campaign adviser Alex Bruesewitz told The Post.
“The same corporate media that let Biden pull the wool over people’s eyes is doing the same thing with Kamala … she won’t do an interview but she’ll pop up awkwardly into a seven-second TikTok,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said.
“Everything about Trump is authentic and organic whereas people are trying to make Kamala cool because she is not capable of doing it herself.”
While the Harris campaign doesn’t pay influencers (as some political action committees do), it sources and vets those it wants to work with — and provides them suggested talking points and up-to-date campaign information.
“This is the most I’ve ever spent on a hotel for the week,” Kory Aversa, a publicist with nearly 100,000 Instagram followers and 129,000 on TikTok who was invited to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) told The Post.
He felt it is worth it to be at a “historic event,” noting it is “the first time they’ve ever invited creators.”
For others, it was the promise of meeting powerful allies and networking with mega-donors which excited them about the trek to Chicago.
“If they want to set up a meeting for me with Mike Bloomberg, why not?” one source said.
The Harris campaign is also targeting content creators in swing states to try to win votes and making decisions on more than just the number of followers influencers have.
“I feel like a rock star since I’m from Pennsylvania,” Aversa joked, before adding how important genuine voices are.
“Some of the micro-influencers (those with less than 100,000) have loyal followings and provide information to their followers in a really personal way,” he added.
Republican strategists are quick to note Harris’ new push toward influencers can be seen as a way of evading rigorous and serious journalists who will confront her with tough questions, while still getting press and staying in the public eye — and some are skeptical whether it will work as a tactic.
“Harris’ campaign has been extremely reliant on big influential accounts and celebrities, to boost her standing,” a source close to Trump told The Post.
“It’s modeled similarly to the 2016 campaign for Hillary, but it didn’t work then and it won’t work now.”
“She is a prosecutor who made San Francisco unsafe and was an insignificant vice president … you can’t make that ‘cool.'”
