TikTok is full of opinionated creators who are desperate to sway the vote of hundreds of millions of people in the upcoming American election.
And there’s reason to believe TikTok, the short-form social media platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, will have an even greater impact on the election than it did four years ago.
In 2020, when Joe Biden and then-incumbent President Donald Trump were running, TikTok had 50 million monthly active users in the United States. That has since exploded to more than 150 million, representing about 43 percent of the country’s population.
Both candidates have made use of the popular platform in this cycle to try and gather votes.
And with more thumbs scrolling on phone screens than ever before, TikTok users are seeing a variety of politically themed content as the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris narrows in the final days.
This includes a small sect of Taylor Swift fans who have gone against their idol (the popstar endorsed Harris) by altering her lyrics to express their support for Trump.
There are also impersonators of the candidates and people recording themselves dancing to infamous candidate soundbites.
TikTok has become one of the most popular places on the internet to find ordinary Americans venting about the state of the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
This Republican Swiftie named Kayleigh altered Taylor’s mega-hit ’22’ to show support for Trump
User @thedebralea is another prominent Trump supporting Taylor Swift fan on TikTok
One video from a Republican Swiftie named Kayleigh had her lip-synching Swift’s 2013 hit single ’22.’
But instead of singing the beginning of the chorus as ‘I’m feeling 22,’ she changed the words to ‘I’m voting Donald Trump.’
Another viral video from @thedebralea uses a popular audio that changes the lyrics to Swift’s 2006 song ‘Picture to Burn.’
The caption reads: ‘Since Swifties for Trump is finally gaining momentum, can this masterpiece be our anthem.’
Swift endorsed Harris for president in September and there are certainly more of her fans who align with her.
User @swifties4Kamala, though not affiliated with the singer or the Democratic candidate, is a prolific poster on behalf of the current vice president.
One of the account’s videos shows the infamous clip of JD Vance calling Democratic leaders ‘childless cat ladies,’ while one of Swift’s most popular songs, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,’ plays in the background.
Pictured: Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris
Notably, Swift herself accompanied her September 10 endorsement with a picture of her and one of her cats. And she signed it ‘Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.’
One of Swift’s stated reasons for wanting to be so public with her endorsement of Harris was because Trump had been sharing AI deepfake images that suggested Swift was supporting him.
Other TikTokers with more of a comedic flair have resorted to impersonating the people vying for the highest office in the land.
Austin Nasso, a 29-year-old comedian in New York City, has gone viral plenty of times with his impressions of Trump and Biden.
‘I’m trying not to deliberately choose sides in the content,’ Nasso told The New York Times. ‘I’m trying to make fun of both of them.’
Sam Wiles, a 34-year-old comedian based in Los Angeles, makes funs of Vance on TikTok by wearing eyeliner, which is based on a widespread internet theory that Trump’s VP pick wears makeup.
Sam Wiles, pictured, makes frequent videos poking fun at JD Vance, Trump’s running mate
And Allison Reese, a 32-year-old comedian, also in Los Angeles, has become the hallmark impersonator of Harris.
The cornerstone of her impression is nailing her uproarious laugh, which has long been a basis for why some say they don’t like her.
Then there are the self-styled pundits who trying to undercut partisan networks like MSNBC and Fox News with their more down-to-earth, unrehearsed approach.
Link Lauren, 27, who worked on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, has amassed over 700,000 followers with his four-minute-long videos attacking Biden and now Harris since she’s become the Democratic nominee.
Under the Desk News, hosted by V Spehar, is a left-leaning TikTok anchor who posts multiple videos a day covering breaking news stories. The account has over 3.2 million followers.
Of course, TikTok got its start as a Musicl.ly before it was acquired by ByteDance in 2018.
In it’s heyday, Musicl.ly – then TikTok – started off primarily as a platform that hosted lip synching and dancing videos.
While TikTok has diversified quite a bit since 2018, many creators still draw on its earliest roots for their content decisions.
Lovers of the musical ‘Hamilton’ have bombarded the app with lip synchs of the show’s popular lyrics as captions appear on screen that express enthusiasm for Harris.
User @rawlinsness posted a video attacking Vance in July that went on to get over 167,000 views. In it, she dances to a beat while Vance repeatedly says: ‘I’m a never Trump guy’ and ‘I never liked him.’
Vance did in fact say these things during an interview with Charlie Rose in October 2016, weeks before Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in an upset outcome.
Vance pictured appearing on MSNBC in 2016 during a time when he was one of Trump’s most vocal critics
Eight years later and against all odds, Vance began Trump’s running mate and most depended-upon attack dog
Another creator, @knicolejenae, posted a video in support of Trump on the day he was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial.
The woman, dressed in a red, white and blue outfit with ‘Make America Great Again’ written on the front, joyously danced to the song ‘I Love It’ by Icona Pop.
The most iconic lyric from the 2012 hit is ‘I don’t care,’ making the woman’s views on Trump’s conviction rather clear.
As central as TikTok is for the 2024 election, this might be the last time anyone will be able to use it as a platform for sharing their thoughts on politics.
President Biden signed a law in April that will soon ban TikTok if ByteDance doesn’t sell its ownership stake to someone else without a connection to the Chinese government.
If ByteDance declines to do so, TikTok will not be allowed on US devices after January 19, 2025, the day before the new president will be sworn in.
ByteDance and TikTok sued to block the law in May, arguing it would violate Americans’ free speech rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Experts told The New York Times they expect the Supreme Court to make a decision on whether to hear the landmark case before a ban takes a effect.
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