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Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Joe Biden is far from a shoo-in for a second term. Despite being the incumbent Democratic candidate and significantly leading primary challenger Dean Phillips, the president still has some strikes against him. For starters, a series of polls show Biden either in dead heat with Trump or trailing him by multiple points. Meanwhile, other surveys indicate most Americans believe the current president is too old to remain in the White House for another four-year stint. At the same time, Biden's support for Israel following the October 7 attack has hurt him among some left-wing supporters. Segments (but not all) of the left support Palestine and/or Hamas over Israel, with some even labeling the terrorist group as "freedom fighters." Biden, for what it's worth, has not adopted this disposition. Nevertheless, if the president wants another term in the Oval Office, he'll need the votes. In an apparent effort to connect with younger people, Biden recently set up an account on TikTok. This subsequently triggered backlash from both Democrats and Republicans.

This didn't pan out so well

The president made his debut on TikTok with a video answering questions about the Super Bowl. Captioning his video was a simple "lol, hey guys." Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were not amused. They also didn't hesitate to sound off with their objections. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, for instance, voiced concerns about "mixed messaging" after noting that Chinese officials can control TikTok algorithms and access the platform's data. GOP Sens. Joni Ernst and Tom Cotton had some choice words for the president as well. They slammed TikTok as a purvyor of "propaganda," noting the fact that federal officials remain prohibited from having the app on any of their government devices. Cotton then denounced Biden's arrival on TikTok as a means of compensating for poor polls and public speculations about his cognitive wellbeing. Following this backlash, the White House emphasized that the policy banning TikTok from government devices still remains in effect. However, the Biden-Harris administration did not confirm the president will be doing away with his new TikTok account.