January 1, White House Recruits Social Media Influencers to Push Narrative About Gas Prices

The White House recruited several teenage TikTok influencers to coordinate a narrative on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, specifically blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for record-breaking gas prices.

30 TikTok influencers attended a Zoom meeting with White House officials, including press secretary Jen Psaki.

A few days after the meeting, 18-year-old Ellie Zeiler, who boasts more than 10 million TikTok followers, posted a video on why “gas is so expensive.”

“Why is gas so expensive, and why is the United States inflation rate at a four-time decade high?” she says in the video.

“I had the opportunity to ask the White House why gas down the street is $7 and here’s what they said.”

She said the “obvious reason” is that demand is going up as the COVID-19 pandemic winds down and people start traveling more.

“But the call was predominantly about Ukraine and Russia, so how does that relate?” she continued.

“Russia is one of the top three producers of oil and it is actually their No. 1 revenue source. Now, with Putin starting this horrific fight between Ukraine and Russia, nobody wants to work with him and do international trade.”

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White House drafts TikTok stars to blame Putin for rising gas prices