Cool or cringe? Politicians try to connect on TikTok, but risk the dreaded ‘teenage eye roll’

As Megan Thee Stallion raps about her desires for a lover, a young woman records herself in her room, strutting toward her phone in sweatpants and a tank top.

On sync to the track’s beat, she drops low. This is usually the part where TikTok creators pivot and show themselves in a new outfit, glammed up.

Instead, a 49-year-old man in a suit and tie appears, mirroring the woman’s dance pose before crouching on his office floor, an American flag on a stand behind him.