Kamala Harris' campaign is seeking influencers to brandish their message to the younger folx online. And many of those influencers are primarily confused, and not really into it. Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, who has over 12 million followers and streams from Manhattan in the back of a UHaul, told viewers he'd been contacted by the campaign. He said he'd been getting calls about doing a livestream with Kamala Harris, only Cenat has no interest in the campaign, Kamala, or even politics.

Thousands of viewers saw Cenat say "Kamala is getting rejected by everyone." He said they'd reached out five times to try to get him to collaborate with the campaign and boost the Dem ticket to his viewers. But he's just not interested. If he did get involved, he said, he would be "100% honest."

Cenat isn't the only one. State Senator Jake Hoffman of Arizona said that he'd been contacted by an Instagram influencer who has almost 150,000 followers on that platform. The influencer told Hoffman that the Kamala Harris campaign has been paying social media influencers to boost the campaign on their platforms. Hoffman said that this indicates that the campaign has "zero grassroots, so they're trying to manufacture fake support using cash as the incentive." 

Democrat party elites like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both from New York, have claimed that Harris has "grassroots" support. Harris, however, did not run for the presidency in the 2024 election cycle and has not received a single primary vote. 

The letter sent to the influencer, shared by Hoffman, is from Alicia Howard of the Harris-Walz campaign. It reads that the campaign is launching an effort "focussed on engaging young voters in battleground states" and they are looking to "gather a groundswell of stories from everyday people who have been personally touched by the impact of Biden-Harris's initiatives." The campaign recommends that the influencer do "a series of three posts" to share what the influencer "admire[s] about the Biden-Harris administration," what "initiatives" they support and why they feel Harris "is the best candidate for the job."

Compensation is offered as well. "This project is moving quickly," the campaign writes, "so if you're interested in creating content on Instagram, please let me know as soon as possible. We can discuss the details and compensation for your involvement." The campaign then sent a follow-up about the "paid partnership."

Collin Rugg put together a compilation of what these influencer posts look like with quick clips of influencers boosting Harris, Tim Walz, and their campaign.

In addition to direct outreach from the campaign, other marketing groups have been reaching out to influencers to invite them to boost the campaign to their followers for cash. Influencer marketing agency Launchviral contacted influencers offering "Paid Post" opportunities for the Harris campaign.

"We're excited to offer you a collaboration opportunity with the KAMALA HARRIS Presidential Campaign 2024. Please Note: LaunchViral is politically neutral. Our company focuses on connecting influencers with collaboration opportunities," the email read, going on to say that they were offering "$150 cash paid bonus incentive as a small token of appreciation for those selected."