Obama takes to TikTok with 'painful' get-out-the-vote message

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Former President Barack Obama has officially joined the ranks of Democrats who are using TikTok personalities to promote their agenda. 

In a last-minute get-out-the-vote effort, Obama was featured in a TikTok video with content creator Vitus Spehar on Monday. Spehar, who goes by "V," is the host of "Under The Desk News," a TikTok show that "offers 60 second daily wrap ups of current events, political analysis, and special interest stories ‘explained.'"

In his guest appearance "under the desk," Obama urged people to register to vote and support Democrats to enact new climate restrictions, gun control laws, and expand abortion rights.  

"Here's the thing: you can stay [under my desk] for now, but when it comes time for voting you're going to have to get up," Obama said.  

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"You got climate change legislation on the ballot, you got gun safety. And, when we can elect more pro-choice members of Congress, we can reinstitute [sic] Roe v. Wade as the law of the land," he continued. "So, you can't stay here, you're going to have to take a little bit of time to vote." 

"Is now a bad time to say that I voted for McCain in 2008?" Spehar asked. 

"Mmm, as long as you voted," Obama jokingly replied. 

Former President Barack Obama campaigns for Democratic candidates at a rally Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, in North Las Vegas, Nevada. (AP Photo/John Locher)

The former president, who remains the most popular person in the Democratic Party even though he left office nearly six years ago, has been lending his star power to beleaguered Democrats on the campaign trail who are facing voter backlash on rampant inflation and rising crime. Polls indicate those issues are top of mind for voters, who believe that the Republican Party is better equipped to handle the economy than incumbent Democrats. 

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Fox News' Power Rankings forecast that Republicans will retake the House majority on Tuesday with an expected gain of about 23 seats. On the Senate side, four key races in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada are ranked as toss-ups and will determine control of the chamber. 

Fox Power Rankings graphic indicating a GOP control in the House with 236 seats for Republicans and 199 for Democrats. (Fox News)

Like all elections, the results will come down to voter turnout, and Obama's appearance on TikTok suggests Democrats are seeking to get every voter they can to the polls to mitigate their expected losses. The Biden White House has previously used TikTok as a medium to promote its COVID-19 vaccination campaign and discuss issues like transgender procedures for minors. 

The video was shared by Libs of TikTok on Twitter, which mocked Obama and other Democrats who have used the China-affiliated platform to promote their message to young people. 

TikTok's scrolling mechanism is "like a slot machine," said Dr. Boxer Wachler. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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"Obama has officially joined in the Democrats’ new fool-proof plan for whenever they need to push an agenda … Collaborating with TikTokers…" Libs of TikTok wrote. 

"Ooof this is painful," said Food Network personality chef Andrew Gruel in reply. 

"Now Obama is participating on TikTok, a legitimate national security threat," wrote Stephen l. Miller, a contributing editor at The Spectator. 

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A recent report from Forbes accused TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, of planning to track individual Americans' locations through its short-form video app. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a TikTok spokesperson refuted the report and said, "the TikTok app does not collect precise GPS location information from US users, meaning TikTok could not monitor US users in the way the article suggested."

Republican lawmakers in July launched a probe into allegations that TikTok shares user data with its Chinese parent company. 

Fox News' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.