{"id":2028357,"date":"2023-09-11T17:28:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T21:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-tiktoker-is-helping-young-people-see-through-leftist-media-heres-what-he-wants-the-gop-to-know\/"},"modified":"2023-09-11T17:29:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T21:29:56","slug":"this-tiktoker-is-helping-young-people-see-through-leftist-media-heres-what-he-wants-the-gop-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-tiktoker-is-helping-young-people-see-through-leftist-media-heres-what-he-wants-the-gop-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"TikToker aids youth in seeing beyond leftist media; shares message for GOP."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthis-tiktoker-is-helping-young-people-see-through-leftist-media-heres-what-he-wants-the-gop-to-know%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2028357&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p><span><span><i>The following is\u200b part of an interview \u200cwith Link Lauren, a \u2064new media journalist and TikTok sensation,<\/i><\/span><i>  and Federalist\u200b Staff Writer \u200bEvita Duffy-Alfonso. The two discuss how the GOP \u2062should message to \u200dGen Z, TikTok, climate insanity, and more. It has been edited for length and clarity.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@itslinklauren\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Click \u200dhere to watch Link Lauren on TikTok<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-160683947\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ab813524ef5668a92dd9b727edd58352 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ab813524ef5668a92dd9b727edd58352\"><\/div>\n<h2>Evita Duffy-Alfonso<\/h2>\n<p>Hi, everyone: this is Federalist staff\u200c writer Evita Duffy-Alfonso, and\u200b I\u2019m here talking with Link Lauren, a\u200c new media journalist who has garnered hundreds of thousands of \u200bfollowers on TikTok \u2064and is currently covering the GOP primaries.\u200d Today, we\u2019re\u200c going to discuss with him what\u200d the GOP can do to reach out to Gen Zers and a \u200bnumber of other topics. So, Link, thanks for being here \u2063and talking with me today.<\/p>\n<h2>Link\u2062 Lauren<\/h2>\n<p>Thank you\u2064 for\u2064 having me. I\u2019m\u200b so\u200d excited to talk to you.<\/p>\n<h3>ED<\/h3>\n<p>Tell me a little bit about \u200cwho you are, how \u2063you \u2063got\u200d into this\u2064 realm of new media journalism, and \u200bwhy you think you\u2019ve really struck \u2064a\u200b chord with so many people on social media.<\/p>\n<h3>LL<\/h3>\n<p>So I grew up in Dallas, Texas, and then I went to\u200d college at NYU, the most liberal school on Earth. NYU really went on lockdown during the pandemic, like <em>really<\/em> shut down. So, \u2063I was in my apartment, doing school online, and I\u2062 decided to start covering cultural stories\u2063 and news stories. And\u2064 that\u2019s where I started growing \u2062my following.\u00a0The \u200bmainstream media sometimes can be a little skewed \u2014 they have their own agenda. And I would just look at news stories from a common-sense perspective. I\u2019d look at something and say,\u2063 \u201cOkay, what do I think about this?\u201d I\u2019d say \u200bwhat makes sense, put it out there, and it turns out common sense isn\u2019t that common.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-61a32535060bc9c8705af5d340de665c fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-61a32535060bc9c8705af5d340de665c\"><\/div>\n<h3>ED<\/h3>\n<p>So you \u2064started by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/these-deep-blue-house-seats-could-flip-red-in-november\/\" title=\"These Deep Blue House Seats Could Flip Red in November\">bringing common sense<\/a> to regular people on social media, and then you\u200d amass this giant following. What kind of advice do you have for the GOP going into \u2062the primaries and then into a general election to reach out to Gen Z? Because the \u200bnumbers for the midterms were abysmal for \u2062Republicans. <\/p>\n<h3>LL<\/h3>\n<p>I feel like for\u2064 any political party, \u2064stop focusing on pushing candidates and speak to\u200c what young people are going through. What \u200cI hear from young people is that financial stress is\u200d the number\u2063 one issue they\u2064 have going on in their lives. \u200bSo reach into the hearts \u2062and minds of young people and tell them how you\u2019re going to relieve their\u200c financial stress, how\u2063 you\u2019re \u200bgoing to help \u200cthem pay for their first house, their first apartment, college, their car, gas,\u200c food, health insurance. If you can offer solutions\u2063 and show solutions on social media to\u2062 those things, then you can really bring \u200cyoung\u200b people\u200d into your coalition\u2063 who will probably stay\u2064 a lifetime. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also this real struggle right now \u200dbetween \u2063mainstream media and alternative media and social media.\u200b I think\u2063 everybody\u2019s figuring it out,\u2064 so everyone deserves some grace and everyone deserves a pass. But \u2062I do\u2063 wish politicians and political parties would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-tiktoker-is-helping-young-people-see-through-leftist-media-heres-what-he-wants-the-gop-to-know\/\" title=\"TikToker aids youth in seeing beyond leftist media; shares message for GOP.\">embrace social media \u2062influencers<\/a>\u2063 more because \u2062they might \u2063have\u2063 more reach than someone on CNN, you know\u200c what I\u2019m saying? <\/p>\n<h3>ED<\/h3>\n<p>Absolutely. I\u2019m somebody who\u2019s on\u200d TikTok. I\u2019ve gotten a lot of flack for it, even from people on the\u200d Federalist staff, and we\u2019ve had debates back\u200b and forth on our\u200d site\u200d about whether or not it\u2019s appropriate to \u200dbe on TikTok or\u200c use TikTok. I have my opinions about TikTok,\u2063 I think\u2064 that \u200dyou \u2064have to be where the\u200c young people are if you want\u2064 to enact any\u200d change in this country. What are your thoughts on TikTok, and how do you justify your use of TikTok \u200cto the older \u2062generations? <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9d8627b46d50fc9bcb08a0c6ebe2e265 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9d8627b46d50fc9bcb08a0c6ebe2e265\"><\/div>\n<h3>LL<\/h3>\n<p>Well, like you said, Evita, you have to find\u200b people where\u200d they are. So \u200dif the young people \u200care on this platform, that\u2019s where you have to go. I \u200cmean,\u2062 look at back in \u2062the day \u2062when\u2062 people were on\u200d MySpace, \u2063and then\u2064 they went to Facebook, then they \u2064went to \u200bInstagram, you\u2019ve got to evolve. You have to go find them where they are and \u2064jump into it. <\/p>\n<h3>ED<\/h3>\n<p>I \u2063don\u2019t want to downplay the threat that China poses to\u200b the United States and the\u200c CCP\u2019s use of \u2064TikTok. Obviously, TikTok and its creators and the\u200d people who run the app are beholden to the CCP,\u2063 which is a \u2064problem. But I think about our own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-Trump Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">social media companies<\/a> and the way \u200dthat American\u2062 social media companies\u200c have targeted conservatives, silenced speech, and\u200c partnered with the Biden administration to shut \u2062down opposition media, and\u2062 I have to\u200c say I\u2019m not\u2063 as worried about TikTok as I am worried about \u200cAmerican \u200ccompanies that are beholden to \u200dour own government. TikTok poses a threat, but\u2062 I\u2064 think they \u2062all pose \u2063a threat. And if we\u2019re going to be \u2062on one \u200dof them, we might as well be on the one \u200bthat has the most \u200cGen \u200dZers. <\/p>\n<h3>LL<\/h3>\n<p>I understand that people have concerns, they feel it\u2019s not \u200bsafe,\u200b or they feel like they\u2019re \u2064being watched or \u200bsurveilled. I\u200b totally get it. You\u2019ve \u200cgot\u2064 to do what you\u2019re comfortable with. But it\u2019s a fallacy to think\u200c that these \u200cother <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/do-gun-control-groups-care-what-really-causes-mass-shootings-everytown-lawsuit-says-no\/\" title=\"Gun-control groups ignore the true causes of mass shootings, as evidenced by the Everytown lawsuit.\">social media companies aren\u2019<\/a>t garnering our information or \u2064watching us.<\/p>\n<h3>ED<\/h3>\n<p>You know, Gen Z seems somewhat politically homeless. There are some people who are strident conservatives like\u200b myself, but I know that there are a lot of young people who\u200b pick\u2064 and choose parts \u2062of the party \u2062platforms\u200c that they\u2063 like. Some candidates that they like, some aspects of those candidates that they don\u2019t like, and there doesn\u2019t\u200d really seem to be one party speaking to \u2062Gen Z. What do you see\u200b happening as \u200cmore\u2063 and \u200bmore young people start to vote? Do you see the \u2064two-party system \u2063continuing? Maybe the two parties evolve differently \u200dto accommodate Gender Z\u2019s unique\u2062 perspectives and beliefs. How \u2064do you see \u2063that playing out in the years to come? <\/p>\n<h3>LL<\/h3>\n<p>Well, I feel like young people are much more \u200cindependent \u200cthan either Republicans\u200c or \u200bDemocrats realize \u2062at this \u200bpoint. I\u2064 mean, you even have \u200bpeople defecting from the Democratic Party like Tulsi Gabbard and \u2062others\u200d to \u2063become independent. So \u2063I think we\u2019re gonna see a lot more independents. You\u2019ve also \u2064got the Green Party, this No Labels party, so I think young \u2062people\u200d are just trying to \u200bfigure out where they stand. We even see \u200bthat with LGBT stuff. You\u2063 see so many more people who are nonbinary. So I feel like there\u2019s always this thing with\u200c young people where they\u200d don\u2019t want to fit into any binary or be put in \u200da box. I just think young people\u2064 are much more beholden to policy than they are to political parties. <\/p>\n<h3>ED<\/h3>\n<p>Is there\u2062 any advice \u2062that you have closing out? For any candidates, \u2063any \u200bof these political consultants, or\u200b grassroots \u2064organizers trying to \u2063reach out to Gen-Zers?<\/p>\n<h3>LL<\/h3>\n<p>Honestly,\u2063 what I said\u200d at\u2062 the beginning, reach \u200dout to young people and what they\u2019re\u200b going through, it\u2019s \u2063really that simple. And you know, sometimes the simplest answer is the best\u2063 answer. If you\u200c offer solutions to things that are going \u200con in their lives,\u200b they just \u2064might join your party.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-rumble-com wp-block-embed-rumble-com\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"EpOK1AFC\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ratio ratio-16x9\">[rumble]https:\/\/rumble.com\/embed\/v3eafb6\/#?secret=T32fJyqlJ[\/rumble]<\/div>\n<p><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9786631da37d739d568dc01cef7bdfb6 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9786631da37d739d568dc01cef7bdfb6\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent interview, Link Lauren, a popular TikTok star and new media journalist, and Federalist Staff Writer Evita Duffy-Alfonso, discussed the GOP&#8217;s messaging to Gen Z, TikTok, climate issues, and more. The interview has been edited for brevity and can be watched on TikTok by clicking here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1623,"featured_media":2028358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2028357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2028357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1623"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2028357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2028357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2028358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2028357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2028357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2028357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}