Influencers get prime DNC access as part of Harris’ campaign strategy

Vice President Kamala Harris taped three interviews this week at the Democratic National Convention, but none of them were with any of the 15,000 credentialed journalists here in Chicago. Instead, they were with social media influencers, including Vidya Gopalan, a North Carolina mom known to her 3.4 million TikTok followers as @queencitytrends.

Vice President Kamala Harris taped three interviews this week at the Democratic National Convention, but none were with any of the 15,000 credentialed journalists here in Chicago. Instead, they were with social media influencers, including Vidya Gopalan, a North Carolina mom known to her 3.4 million TikTok followers as @queencitytrends. Gopalan, who largely posts lifestyle content, asked Harris to reflect on their shared Indian heritage and her memories of spending time in India with her grandfather. The video, posted Tuesday, has more than 1.9 million views. That engagement represented a recognition from the Harris campaign that reaching voters in the countdown to Election Day will require Democrats to go beyond a traditional media strategy and into new spaces. One piece of this strategy is creating their own content, including on the popular @KamalaHQ account across platforms. The other – and arguably more significant – piece is to harness the power of influencers. There is a plan in place, officials say, to reach Americans – and particularly young voters. And that is increasingly on social media platforms. “You have to meet the voters’ eyeballs and ears where they are – and where they are is at their lunch, during their lunch breaks, scrolling through their phone. They are sitting on the subway, scrolling through their phone. They are on the couch with the TV on with CNN, maybe on mute, scrolling through their phone. They’re walking their dog, looking at their phone,” said Alex Pearlman, a self-described “ranting comedian” known on as @pearlmania500 TikTok, where he has 2.7 million followers. Pearlman is among the 200 content creators credentialed for the DNC this week, marking an unprecedented effort by Democrats to engage this community. There are multiple “creator lounges” across the United Center, spaces with mirrors and ring lights and charging stations where the creators, many of whom are longtime followers of one another but have never met in person, are networking and collaborating. They are on the convention floor on a special “creator platform,” prime real estate for viewing each night’s events. And they are meeting and interviewing top Democratic surrogates – including Harris herself.