Biden's first TikTok post pokes fun at the Super Bowl conspiracy theory

Did President Biden cunningly set up the Super Bowl so that the Kansas City Chiefs would win?

“I'd be in trouble if I told you,” Mr. Biden joked in his campaign's inaugural post on TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform that has 170 million American users but few high-level American politicians.

The video then transitioned into an image of the 'Dark Brandon' meme – another attempt by the campaign to turn a right-wing conspiracy theory on its head.

Mr. Biden's arrival on TikTok and the light-hearted nature of his post signaled his ongoing efforts to rebuild his support among young voters. After weeks of aides suggesting he join the platform, his campaign pressed the button on the first video during the Super Bowl on Sunday night.

In the 30-second clip, the president dodged questions of an offscreen inquisitor.

Who would win the big game? (He dodged and noted Jill Biden's fandom for the Philadelphia Eagles.)

Which Kelce brother did he prefer? (Again, a diplomatic response: “Mama Kelce.”)

And was he indeed responsible for an elaborate conspiracy theory spread by the far right that the White House and the NFL had conspired so that the Chiefs would win the game and somehow help his re-election campaign? (Cue “Dark Brandon.” So does Mr. Biden shared an image of the meme on X shortly after the match he wrote: “Just as we drew it.”)

Joining TikTok is a sharp pivot for Biden's reelection campaign, which had officially insisted it did not need its own TikTok account to reach voters and would instead work through influencers.

This move also comes with some risk: TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance and is banned on government devices in most states and at the federal level. Republicans in particular, but also Democrats and national security experts, have expressed concerns about the control China's authoritarian government could exert over the platform's data and content shown to Americans. TikTok has pushed back on these concerns.

The Biden campaign said Monday that they have “implemented advanced security measures around our devices and incorporated advanced security protocol to ensure safety.”

This caution toward the platform has contributed to the reluctance of politicians and their campaigns to join TikTok, despite the app's growing influence. As of December, only 37 sitting members of Congress were using the app and there were no official @POTUS, White House or Biden 2024 accounts, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Of the Republican presidential candidates, only Vivek Ramaswamy had his own bill. Last month he dropped out of the race.

The app, once known for viral dance videos, has increasingly become a source of news and information, especially for younger Americans. About 14 percent of U.S. adults said they regularly got news from TikTok last year, up from 3 percent in 2020. according to the Pew Research Center.

Last month, campaign officials celebrated when a TikTok video created by a North Carolina teenager whose home Mr. Biden visited attracted millions of views on the platform.

Whether the Biden campaign can make the 81-year-old president look cool on the platform remains an open question. In the Sunday post, Mr. Biden wore khaki pants and a blue quarter-zip sweater with a microphone clipped to the zipper. The questions came from Rob Flaherty, deputy campaign manager, a campaign official said.

According to TikTok, the post had been viewed 4.5 million times as of Monday morning.

Although TikTok does not allow paid political advertising, several campaigns have successfully used the app to connect with potential voters and help win races. For example, Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, included TikTok among the tools he used to target Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 midterm elections.