Tim Walz is joining TikTok, as the Democratic ticket aims to reach young voters by doubling down on dad humor.
Vice President Kamala Harris launched her own account on the platform on July 25. It now has about 4.5 million followers.
Her running mate — @timwalz — introduced himself on TikTok on Friday with a 10-second video shot on the banks of the Mississippi River.
The Minnesota governor has already developed a self-deprecating persona in short-form videos posted to Instagram and Twitter (now X).
In September 2023, he filmed a video at the Minnesota State Fair in which he and his daughter went on the Slingshot ride.
The Harris campaign put out a video on Thursday, in which Walz and Harris talked about — among other things — music and cooking.
“I have white guy tacos,” Walz said in the video. “Pretty much ground beef and cheese. … Black pepper is the top of the spice level in Minnesota.”
The campaign plans to use the new TikTok account to display his “authenticity” as a Midwestern dad and football coach — and to draw a contrast with JD Vance.
“Our campaign is focused on one thing: bringing the stakes of this election directly to the voters who will decide it,” said Hannah Flom, Walz’ digital director. “Getting the Governor up on TikTok ensures that the incredible number of voters on the platform get to see exactly who he is – a teacher, a coach, a veteran, a father and a leader who is, along with VP Harris, doing the hard work to make Americans’ lives better.”
President Biden signed a law in April that seeks to force TikTok’s China-based owner, ByteDance, to sell the platform.
In March, Harris told ABC News that “We do not intend to ban TikTok.”
“We need to deal with the owner and we have national security concerns about the owner of TikTok, but we have no intention to ban TikTok,” Harris said at the time, saying the platform has benefits including “allowing people to share information in a free way.”
