Tom Steyer’s campaign for governor is paying influencers to create social media content aimed at boosting his bid to become the next governor of California.
In March, creator Isaiah “Zay Dante” Washington — who boasts nearly two million followers on TikTok and hundreds of thousands more on Instagram —posted a video interviewingthe billionaire environmental activist about his fortune and political platform, including “how capitalism has scorned young people,”the Sacramento Bee reported.
Campaign finance records show Steyer’s campaign paid Washington $10,000 to produce content across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
The paid partnership appears to be part of a broader campaign strategy.
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According to a campaign memo obtained by the Sacramento Bee, Steyer’s team has approached additional content creators with offers of $10 per video, with promises of additional bonuses tied to view counts.
“Many voters are critical of Tom Steyer because of his billionaire status, lack of experience and previous investments.
“Rather than pretending that these things don’t exist, acknowledge and relate to voters’ concerns and explain why you still believe Steyer is the strongest candidate despite them,” the memo states.
Creators were reportedly instructed to post three to four videos per week focused on issues aligned with Steyer’s platform — including taxing the rich,abolishing ICE, climate change, regulating artificial intelligence and reducing corporate influence in politics — while avoiding direct mentions of Steyer or the governor’s race in order to maintain a more “casual” and “relatable” appearance.
“If it looks like a robot made it… don’t use it,” the instruction memo reads. “Keep your bio casual, relatable, and on-theme for the campaign, but do NOT mention Tom Steyer directly — this helps avoid the account looking like a bot starting out.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
