Kamala Harris’ campaign continues to try to engage as many influencers as possible, but more and more of them are coming forward and categorically saying they don’t want to be involved. Whether they don’t share Harris’ views or simply don’t want to be politically involved at all, many aren’t saying, but regardless, it seems these influencers just don’t think it’s worth it.
And they refuse money.
Another influencer named Lauren Mochen just exposed the Harris campaign, which tried to pay her to say nice things about Harris and the Democrats. She said before they could start talking to her, they would send her a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to sign, which would effectively allow her to not talk about anything that goes on behind the scenes or confess that she is being paid to do so.
The idea of having to pay for support is a long-standing tradition, but many members of the younger generation who get their news and opinions from the influencers they follow, as Mochen notes, were alarmed.
“I know a lot of people base their views, opinions and beliefs on what their favorite influencers say,” Mochen said. “You just have to be aware that they may have been paid to say the things they say.”
Another influencer on TikTok revealed that the Harris campaign team tried to pay her to say nice things about Kamala and the Democrats, demanding that she sign a non-disclosure agreement first. pic.twitter.com/HtOHfkMFVQ
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) 14 August 2024
Mochen is right. The majority of Americans don’t follow politics at all and most news, especially political news, comes from third party sources like influencers, fashion magazines, celebrity gossip tabloids and more. The Democratic Party understands this and is trying to operate the internet’s many influencers to sway people in their favor, which has worked in the past through celebrities or eminent activists.
(Study: It’s not just CNN or MSNBC that condition people to believe lies)
Today, Harris has a huge selection of influencers to choose from for her campaign, but it seems that while some are taking her up on the offer, many are not.
As I wrote last week, the Harris campaign had reached out to major streamers like Twitch’s Kai Cenat, who also openly dismissed her on stream. Given Cenat’s popularity with younger generations, this doesn’t paint a good picture for Harris.
Another influencer provided Arizona Republican Jake Hoffman with an email from an agency offering to pay the influencer to write a series of posts describing what he “admires about the Biden-Harris administration” and “what initiatives he supports.”
(Embarrassing: The Harris campaign’s attempt to mobilize support with the facilitate of popular streamers backfires)
As Mochen noted, you’ll likely see plenty of influencers speaking positively about the Harris campaign and singing its praises, but be aware that if they’re eminent enough, there’s a good chance they’re being paid to do so and the post is actually disingenuous. As I wrote last week, even in Hollywood, the willingness to engage politically seems to be waning, and those who do are repeating the same tired arguments as the media.
At this point, it’s relatively uncomplicated to conclude that money and falsehood are the only two things keeping Harris’ campaign going.
(READ: Kamala Harris and the thinning Hollywood bubble)
