Former Vice President Joe Biden has been receiving regular briefings from executives at digital and social media companies in order to learn strategies for appealing to young voters if he were to run for president again.
Twitter, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who would not disclose the executive’s name.
“We work with elected officials, candidates and former politicians regularly when it comes to them getting the most out of Twitter,” a spokesman for the company told CNBC. This person would not directly comment on Biden.
Critics of a potential Biden run have suggested that Democratic voters – and the electorate in general – may prefer a fresh face to take on President Donald Trump, 72, in 2020. Biden is 76 years old and has been a staple of the national political scene since the early 1970s. If he were to run, Biden would have to cultivate a digital operation to keep pace with rivals who have had a head start in developing a vast reach on social media.
People familiar with the matter also said that Biden’s team is prepared to hire at least 20 social media experts who would advise him if he were to jump into the 2020 race.
The former vice president has also talked with Athan Stephanopoulos, president of NowThis News, an online outlet that specializes in creating and distributing viral short-form videos – and helped raise the national profile of potential 2020 Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke.
In an interview Wednesday, Stephanopoulos confirmed that he had been in touch with Biden, his team and a variety of 2020 candidates about how his company can help promote their policies while connecting with young voters.
“We are trying to reinforce that outlets like NowThis are an important place to spend time and reach these audiences,” he told CNBC, describing key issues for young voters such as immigration and criminal justice reform, as well as climate change. “Candidates will have to take a stand on these issues as it relates to talking to this whole new generation of voters.”
Stephanopoulos said NowThis reaches 70 percent of Americans in their 20s on a monthly basis, a data point that has caught the attention of Democratic 2020 campaigns. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign, for instance, hired a NowThis employee to become a senior media producer.
People close to Biden said the former vice president has appeared to absorb extensive knowledge about online messaging through these meetings.
Biden himself touched on the subject Tuesday at a University of Delaware event.
The veteran politician reflected on how the social media landscape had changed since President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012. Biden also acknowledged he’s getting counsel from some of the industry’s top executives as he tries to comprehend the evolution of social media and its impact on campaigns.
“From the last time Barack and I ran … the whole issue of social media and the use of social media has fundamentally changed,” he said. “And so we’ve been getting briefings from the most advanced people in the country who run these major platforms.”
Biden also noted he was in the “final stages” of deciding whether he will run in 2020 and his family will support him if he chooses to enter the arena.
Biden, a former longtime U.S. senator from Delaware, has also heard from a variety of top Democratic donors about a third potential run for president, CNBC first reported.
A spokesman for Biden declined to comment.
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