Politicians try to connect on TikTok, but risk the dreaded eye roll
LOS ANGELES — As Megan Thee Stallion raps about her desires for a lover, a young woman records herself in her room, strutting toward her phone in sweatpants and a tank top.
On sync to the track's beat, she drops low. This is usually the part where TikTok creators pivot and show themselves in a new outfit, glammed up.
Instead, a 49-year-old man in a suit and tie appears, mirroring the woman's dance pose before crouching on his office floor, an American flag on a stand behind him.
"Hey, are you registered to vote?" Florida Democratic congressional candidate Ken Russell asks, bear crawling toward his phone's screen. "There's a primary on Aug. 23 and the general election Nov. 8. Wait, come back, wait ... "
A pair of Chapman University students reviewing the video as they lounge on campus are silent for a few seconds. Then they pronounce it "cheesy" and "weird."
"OK, it's a girl posting a thirst trap and then all of a sudden it's a guy," said Katarina Maric, 20. "I thought that was a little strange."
But at Cal State Long
