Shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl on Sunday, President Joe Biden’s social media accounts shared a “Dark Brandon” meme with the caption “Just like we drew it up.”
The meme was supposed to reference the right-wing conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship was set up as a runway to a political play. What it actually came across as was grossly insensitive and out of touch as the Israel-Gaza conflict took an ugly turn. While Americans were watching the Super Bowl, Israel launched an attack on Rafah, a city where 1.5 million are sheltering, killing 67 Palestinians.
Biden tried to do damage control with this tweet:
It’s clear that Biden’s camp is trying really hard to reach Gen Z. His TikTok presence alone is proof of that. That’s not an issue. The issue begins to rear its head when he uses social media to pander to younger generations with a disingenuous approach instead of sharing policy information to keep them informed ahead of the election. And that issue worsens drastically when trolling the opposing party gets in the way of condemning a genocide that the United States is playing a part in funding.
Though Biden has reportedly become tougher on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even prior to the Rafah assault, U.S. policy has not changed.
Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Hamas launched an Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, according to health officials in Gaza. Israel has cut off vital resources for Gaza, including food, water and fuel.
Since Sunday, Biden’s newly launched TikTok page has been flooded with comments about Gaza. I know politicians can miss the mark in their swing for reelection, but this is more than an inexcusable flub.
On this week’s episode of “I Know That’s Right,” I break down why Biden needs to focus more on the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Listen here:
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