Democrats are bracing for a backlash from young voters over the potential ban of TikTok on U.S. phones, a situation made more likely by the Chinese government’s opposition to the sale of ByteDance, one of the the most sophisticated in the world.
That’s a problem for President Biden, who won 60% of voters ages 18 to 29 in the 2020 election but saw his support drop to 45% in that key demographic, according to a recent poll by the Harvard Youth.
An NBC News poll released in November even showed former President Trump leading Biden among voters aged 18 to 34 nationwide, 46 to 42 percent.
Democratic strategists have attributed Biden’s struggles with younger voters to the president’s age — 81 — and dissatisfaction with his handling of the war in Gaza, which has sparked protests on college campuses across the country.
Now, a possible ban on TikTok could become another headwind. Although a ban won’t take effect until Election Day, TikTok plans to fight it vigorously and has warned its devoted fans that the popular app could disappear from their phones.
“A higher percentage of Americans under 30 oppose [the ban,]” said Stephen Weymouth, professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
“Unless political leaders are more persuasive in convincing people of the benefits of a possible divestment/ban, I think it is going to be relatively unpopular at a time when the president needs the participation of young voters,” he said. he added. “It probably won’t help.”
Up to 170 million Americans now use TikTok, and it is particularly popular among young people.
An Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released earlier this year found that 73% of Americans who use TikTok daily oppose a ban.
A poll of 1,001 Americans by CNBC last month found that 48% of people aged 18 to 34 opposed banning TikTok.
Another poll conducted by ClearPath Strategies found that 51% of black voters, another important Democratic constituency, said they opposed a ban and view the app favorably.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week accused House Republicans of muddling language potentially banning TikTok in the $95 billion foreign aid package that the Senate adopted Tuesday.
“Listen, President [Mike] Johnson [R-La.] put it in the bill, in the big supplemental bill, and we had to get the supplemental bill passed as quickly as possible,” he told reporters when asked about a political reaction to TikTok ban.
Republican strategists, however, say Biden will bear the brunt of any fallout because he signed the bill and is relying more on young voters than Trump.
“The fact that more and more young voters are hesitant to support President Biden, according to polls, doesn’t help him, it doesn’t help the Biden administration,” said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist.
“I think there would be some sort of…
