RNC Courts Influencers To Attract Youth Vote

(Patrick T. Fallon /AFP via Getty)

The Republican National Convention will host more than 70 social media “influencers” in Milwaukee next week in an attempt to attract younger voters, reports The Washington Post.

The TikTok content creators will be treated like other convention attendees, with full credentials and access to a “creator workspace” where they can film social media content, according to Brilyn Hollyhand, chair of the RNC Youth Advisory Council who spearheaded the effort.

“We have the first convention. We want to make sure that the youth vote has a presence,” said Hollyhand.

Hollyhand said he first floated the idea to RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and co-chair Lara Trump back in January. The team first met with influencers about the idea in February.

According to an anonymous source, influencers include conservative comedians the Hodgetwins, Mikel Simmons from Bravo’s “Southern Hospitality,” and model and pistol shooter Jamie Villamor, among others.

Young voters bolstered Biden in 2020, backing him over Trump by a 25-point margin, according to The Post. However, in a changing tide, there were close to twice as many pro-Trump posts as pro-Biden posts on TikTok in the past year, according to a TikTok official who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity.

Pew Research reports that a third of young adults ages 18 to 29 regularly get their news on TikTok, making the convention guest list a strategic play by the RNC.

The Democratic National Convention Committee hopes to leverage the same voting bloc, announcing similar plans last month to credential content creators at the convention.