Joining the platform “ensures that the incredible number of voters on the platform get to see exactly who he is – a teacher, a coach, a veteran, a father,” said Walz’s digital director
Tim Walz is following Vice President Kamala Harris‘ lead and joining TikTok. On Friday, Harris’ running mate launched his own account on the platform — and got his started with one of his silly dad jokes.
“Hey everybody, Tim here with Scout at the dog park along the Mississippi doing our first entry into TikTok,” he said, before joking: “Or as he and I say: TimTok.”
Walz then looks down at his dog and says “Right, Scout?” while chuckling. Within a few hours, his account garnered a quarter million followers.
Walz went viral earlier on Friday for a video of him and Harris conversing about how he eats “white guy tacos” as Harris poked fun at her vice presidential pick for not using seasoning.
Hannah Flom, Walz’s digital director, told Variety on Friday that the platform will be used to showcase Walz’s “authenticity” as they connect with Gen Z voters.
“Our campaign is focused on one thing: bringing the stakes of this election directly to the voters who will decide it,” Flom told the outlet. “Getting the Governor up on TikTok ensures that the incredible number of voters on the platform get to see exactly who he is — a teacher, a coach, a veteran, a father and a leader who is, along with VP Harris, doing the hard work to make Americans’ lives better.”
Harris officially joined TikTok in late July as she went viral for coconut tree memes and Brat-inspired fan edits. The Vice President has already garnered more than 4.5 million followers on the platform since then.
“Our job as a campaign is to break through the noise and make sure we’re talking to voters wherever they are — TikTok is one of those landscapes, and we’re leaving no stone unturned,” deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty said at the time. “Getting the vice president up on TikTok means she’ll be able to directly engage with a key constituency in a way that’s true and authentic to the platform and the audience.”