CBS Mornings devoted a significant segment of Wednesday’s first hour to a foolish report on the importance of leftist teenage influences on TikTok. Correspondent Jo Ling Kent hyped the quickly emerging “campaigning design” for the apparently beneficial impact it had on young voters, naturally focusing on how it advantaged the Democratic Party.
Co-host Jericka Duncan began by highlighting a couple of (carefully selected) positive videos concerning Vice President Kamala Harris’ brand new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D). Before turning to Kent, she giddily applauded how “Democrats have really deployed these influencers to attract those young voters.”
Kent focused much of her report on 23-year-old TikToker Awa Sanneh and played certain tasteful clips from her videos, like one where she bragged, “I just peed in the White House.” The obviously delighted correspondent celebrated that “when she posted this video of her White House bathroom break, her half a million followers took notice.”
So much for the decency the Democratic Party swore it demonstrated.
Kent could barely contain her excitement about another one of Sanneh’s videos, her “birth control blog” where she idiotically declared “over the United States of my uterus” following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. “It was this viral video she posted…that initially caught the attention of a Democratic super PAC,” Kent cheered.
Rather than being fueled by organic enthusiasm for the candidates or the presidential race in general, Kent herself revealed that, “Democratic organizations are flooding the creator community with cash and providing behind-the-scenes access.”
She also interviewed a Rob Flaherty who had the esteemed role of running “digital strategy” in President Joe Biden’s White House and for the Harris campaign. More accurately, Flaherty is a millennial “coaching” a bunch of Gen-Zers with “talking points, resources, [and] base language” to market Kamala Harris.
Flaherty called the “highly meme-able Harris a massive asset,” clearly in denial that his work was simply part of the desperate attempt by the older generations to stay relevant in popular culture, while simultaneously struggling to appeal to the younger ones.
Ironically, Kent clarified again that, “While Flaherty says the Harris campaign does not pay influencers directly, CBS news found a constellation of other Democratic political organizations that do,” meaning the so-called influencers demonstrated very little initiative or passion but were instead motivated by their greed (Sanneh revealed creators were paid from $3,000 to $10,000 “and upwards”).
In fact, Sanneh said that she was “hired” by Protect Our Care, “a progressive advocacy group that relies on anonymous donors.” Kent revealed that groups like Protect Our Care send carefully scripted talking points, adding, “She takes their talking points and puts them into her own voice, saying she always discloses when she's being paid.”
The hypocrisy was all too evident and that statement was a pathetic reassurance of the integrity of the Democrats’ new and not-so-subtly insidious agenda.
Actually, just a few moments later, Kent disclosed: “when it comes to selling commercial products or sharing financial advice online, federal rules do require influencers to disclose when they are being paid. But in December, the Federal Election Commission voted against similar requirements for influencers spreading political messaging.”
Interestingly, Kent continued to expose the Democratic scheme by interviewing the University of Pittsburgh’s Sam Woolley who “studies political influencers,” asking him, “How can you tell what is a genuine grassroots expression of political opinion versus what's being paid for?”
“If you see multiple influencers spreading the same exact message, you can start to realize, ‘Hmm, some kind of coordination is going on,’” Woolley responded.
Following the report, co-host Gayle King gushed, “I am so fascinated by this, Jo Ling. ‘Cause at first I couldn't decide is this obnoxious, or refreshing, or creative?” She decided on “refreshing and creative” but certainly should have gone with her first impulse.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS Mornings
8/7/2024
07:39:27 AM EST
JERICKA DUNCAN: If you've been on Instagram or TikTok over the past day, chances are you've seen videos, like these, about the new Democratic vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz. They reflect a different kind of campaigning design to win the newest battleground, our social media feeds. Jo Ling Kent is here to show us how Democrats have really deployed these influencers, if you will, to attract those young voters. Good morning, Jo Ling.
JO LING KENT: Good morning, Jericka. Good to see you. Now, influencers have become a key conduit to reach voters this election, as both parties are trying to gain an edge with Gen-Z, a bloc that’s estimated to have 41 million eligible to cast their ballot in November. Eight million for the first time.
[Cuts to video]
AWA SANNEH: Look at the volume in this hair…
KENT: 23-year-old Awa Sanneh made a name for herself dispensing beauty tips on TikTok.
SANNEH: I just peed in the White House.
KENT: So, when she posted this video of her White House bathroom break, her half a million followers took notice.
SANNEH: I was just shocked. I was, like, did you see that marble?
KENT: Sanneh, who met us in Houston, was one of a few dozen influencers invited to the White House to watch the State of the Union and meet President Biden.
SANNEH: He said to us, “The collective presence in this room has more viewership on Gen-Z than all of traditional media combined.”
So, here's my birth control blog…
KENT: It was this viral video she posted after the fall of Roe v. Wade..
SANNEH: Over the United States of my uterus–
KENT: …that initially caught the attention of a Democratic super PAC. On the right, Turning Point USA has mobilized influencers for years, raising nearly $200 million since 2020.
CHARLIE KIRK: You realize they're coming for you guys next.
KENT: Now, Democratic organizations are flooding the creator community with cash and providing behind-the-scenes access.
CLARKE PEOPLES: Come with me to meet the president of the United States…
ROB FLAHERTY: We just have to be working with them and if we’re not, we're missing a huge way that voters are getting information about the world.
KENT: Rob Flaherty runs digital strategy, previously in the Biden White House and now for the Harris campaign.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?
KENT: He called the highly meme-able Harris a massive asset, as the campaign reaches out to thousands of influencers.
What kind of coaching do you give influencers acting on behalf of the Harris campaign?
FLAHERTY: Talking points, resources, base language.
KENT: While Flaherty says the Harris campaign does not pay influencers directly, CBS news found a constellation of other Democratic political organizations that do. In May, Future Forward, the super PAC supporting Harris, hosted panels like “Gaming the Algorithm” and “How advocacy can benefit your business.”
SANNEH: In the first 100 days of a Republican presidency under Trump, Project 2025 talks about sacking thousands of civil servants…
KENT: Last month, Sanneh says was hired by Protect Our Care, a progressive advocacy group that relies on anonymous donors. She made a video warning about Trump's second-term agenda.
They almost help you script it, right?
SANNEH: Right. Definitely.
KENT: She takes their talking points and puts them into her own voice, saying she always discloses when she's being paid.
What's your rate?
SANNEH: So, a video, just for a creator in my size, an average can go from $3,000 to $10,000, depending and upwards.
SAM WOOLLEY: This is a bid by campaigns to create authenticity at a small scale.
KENT: University of Pittsburgh's Sam Woolley studies political influencers.
How can you tell what is a genuine grassroots expression of political opinion versus what's being paid for?
WOOLLEY: If you see multiple influencers spreading the same exact message, you can start to realize, “Hmm, some kind of coordination is going on.”
KENT: Next up for Sanneh, the Democratic National Convention.
SANNEH: They just told us that if we wanted to put on our own show that they would give us all the resources to do that.
KENT: The Democrats are rolling out the red carpet.
SANNEH: Definitely. And I'm glad to be on it.
KENT: The beauty influencer now applying her own filter to this presidential campaign.
[Cuts back to live]
KENT: Now, when it comes to selling commercial products or sharing financial advice online, federal rules do require influencers to disclose when they are being paid. But in December, the Federal Election Commission voted against similar requirements for influencers spreading political messaging, guys.
DUNCAN: Hmm.
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: Hmm.
GAYLE KING: I am so fascinated by this, Jo Ling. ‘Cause at first I couldn't decide is this obnoxious, or refreshing, or creative? And after watching your piece, I'm now come down to refreshing and creative. And very smart to do this way.
KENT: Yeah it’s interesting…
KING: We’re learning how to do it. Yes.
KENT: It's interesting, and it's a whole different business model.
KING: Exactly.
KENT: Both the campaigns and the super PACs having a strategy to reach more people. And the key thing here, it's not just influencers with millions of followers.
KING: Yeah.
DUNCAN: Mhmm.
KENT: We're talking about micro-influencers. Some people say in Pennsylvania, Bucks County…
DUNCAN: Right.
KENT: …30 followers.
KING: I love she took you behind the scenes. I thought she was very good…
KENT: It was fascinating!
KING: …showing how that was done.
KENT: She really opened up the doors and showed us how this works.
KING: Yeah.
DUTHIERS: Jo Ling, thank you very much. Great report.
KING: Yes, yes, yes.
KENT: Thanks, you guys.
(...)
