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Last week, President Joe Biden signed a law that could ban TikTok. This week, we’re talking about the app for an entirely different reason. A lot of lawmakers and campaigns are still using the app, despite the supposed national security risks. Michael Cohen—Donald Trump’s ex-fixer and star witness in the former president’s hush money trial—is using the app in a big way, and it’s all about Trump’s trial and how Cohen is seizing the moment.
Let’s talk about it.
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The Michael Cohen Media Network
Cohen can’t stop going live on TikTok.
In the middle of my late-night TikTok scrolls, it’s been impossible to avoid Cohen’s evening missives. For the past few weeks, my For You Page has consistently served me the “Michael Cohen Live Show,” Cohen’s 10 pm ET livestream where he invites fans, impressionists, and even Rosie O’Donnell to take jabs at Trump as the Trump trial heats up.
Cohen, after pleading guilty to tax evasion and violating campaign finance law in 2018, has pivoted into becoming a political content creator, building a dedicated fan base of never-Trumpers who pay his bills. The creator economy is not only the top career industry for teenagers but also for former Trump acolytes—and it’s giving them more power over the political narrative than Morning Joe ever did.
For the average cable news viewer, Cohen’s face is a familiar one. He regularly joins TV hosts to discuss the latest Trump news of the week. But it’s TikTok where he’s been cashing in recently: Nearly 300,000 users follow Cohen on TikTok, and thousands of people watch his nightly streams; at least one of these shows received a million likes. Viewers also regularly send him donations. In several different streams, Cohen can be seen making a heart with his hands as he’s pelted with roses and heart emoji.
“I created the ‘Michael Cohen Live Show’ because I was bored after watching everything on streaming that interested me,” Cohen said in a text message to me on Wednesday. “I’m amazed that after such a short time, the community has grown as large as it has.”
While Cohen tweeted on April 24 that he wouldn’t be posting about Trump until after he testified, he’s continued to talk about Trump on TikTok. ABC News even put up a report this week where they spoke to a handful of lawyers that agreed Cohen’s streams could benefit Trump more than anything.
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“I give no credence to the ABC News opinion piece,” Cohen responded when I asked him about it.
While the “Michael Cohen Live Show” appears to have launched recently, Cohen has been talking about Trump for years: he has released two books documenting his relationship with Trump and also hosts and cohosts two podcasts with the MeidasTouch guys.
On Cohen’s Patreon, a club for listeners of the Cohen and Meidas Beatdown Club podcast, he’ll occasionally hold Zoom calls with paid supporters. There’s more than 1,100 of them, and the lowest tier requires a $10-per-month subscription, equivalent to at least $11,000 per month. That’s not counting the $50, $150, or the $500 subscriptions (or the TikTok gifts). At the beginning of these calls, Cohen and Ben Meiselas, a MeidasTouch cofounder, asks followers to “put up their dukes” and mime a few boxing punches.
On Wednesday, I reached out to the MeidasTouch folks to gauge the extent of their relationship with Cohen. They didn’t immediately respond to comment.
Whatever the details of that relationship, Cohen has created a massive megaphone for himself online by collabing with Meidas and engaging directly with his fans. He’s basically building his own media network, which is a trend we’ve seen among politicians and pundits since the last media cycle with the likes of Rudy Giulian and Tucker Carlson launching podcasts and creating boutique news programs online. And because of how screwed the internet is, you can’t just post if you’re wanting to break through the noise. Cohen’s got to do a little bit of everything and pray he doesn’t hurt his credibility.
The Chatroom
Last week, I asked you all to send in your thoughts on the new law that could ban TikTok in the US. You sent in plenty of thoughtful comments and emails. Here’s one that was incredibly kind and goes big-picture on what we were discussing last week.
From Barry:
“The summary: I disagree with the idea of banning TikTok only because of its China connection, without any proof.
The details: I turn 83 this June, know nothing about TikTok, and next to nothing about social media entirely—I read Facebook postings of friends and relatives, but post nothing myself. My impression of social media is that it's an amalgam of pet tricks, incompetent dancing, influencers and disinformation. It's a lot of mass entertainment by amateurs, and that's OK.
At this point I could go on a rant about the devolution of the internet, politics, cryptocurrency, and more generally, democracy and society, but that's why I subscribe to Wired—for Paul Ford, Steven Levy, etc. Leave that to the pros.”
Happy early birthday, Barry, and thanks for your thoughts!
Over the next week, I’m going to be digging into all of the Federal Election Commission filings for tech super PACs and campaigns that have been stacking up in my inbox. I’ll report back with what I find next week. But I’m curious, is there anything I should keep an eye out for? You can find a lot in these filings—like which influencer management companies politicians are using or which big campaigns big tech PACs are sending their money.
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Have an idea or a question? Leave a comment on the site, or send me an email at mail@wired.com.
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WIRED Reads
Why China Is So Bad at Disinformation: China sucks at sowing political division in the United States. My colleague David Gilbert describes how China stacks up to Russia as this election approaches.Extremist Militias Are Coordinating in More Than 100 Facebook Groups: WIRED contributor Tess Owen broke news about how militia extremists have been coordinating on hundreds of Facebook groups and profiles.Meet the Woman Who Showed President Biden ChatGPT—and Helped Set the Course for AI: The incomparable Steven Levy sat down with Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. She’s one of the chief architects behind the Biden administration’s AI policy.
Want more? Subscribe now for unlimited access to WIRED.
What Else We’re Reading
🔗 VP Candidate Nicole Shanahan Kicks Off Media Campaign: The RFK Jr. campaign is letting Nicole Shanahan off the leash. As if one Kennedy podcast wasn’t enough, Shanahan is starting her own. The first episode came out Wednesday on X. (Axios)
🔗 Chinese Shopping App Temu Censors Searches for ‘Trump’ and ‘Biden’: Temu started prohibiting searches for Trump and Biden political merch in the US this week. Sorry to anyone trying to buy discount MAGA hats there. (Forbes)
🔗 Meta Had Its Biggest Lobbying Quarter Ever: In Q1 of this year, Meta spent more than $7.6 million lobbying the US government. It’s a quarterly record for the company and, of course, comes as Congress successfully passed the TikTok divestiture bill. (The Verge)
The Download
I linked Tess’ piece up top, but she’s also on the pod this week with Leah Feiger and David Gilbert talking about extremist militias coordinating on Facebook. Give it a listen—you can find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
One last thing: It feels dumb to just write about TikTok Lives and not mention the protests on Columbia University’s campus (and many others) Tuesday night. Columbia’s student journalists did a tremendous job, switching from platform to platform as their livestream got overwhelmed. You can follow their radio station WKCR here and listen to their coverage live here.
That’s it for today—thanks again for subscribing. You can get in touch with me via email, Instagram, X and Signal at makenakelly.32.
