Last weekend, Mary Jo Laupp was enjoying a quiet night at a birthday party for her granddaughter, until she picked up her phone and her world fell over.
A TikTok video he had made urging people to book tickets to the President Trump rally on June 20 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then not show up, had gone viral. Attendance at the rally turned out to be far less than that billed by the Trump campaign, and TikTok teens and Korean pop music fans were taking a victory lap online. Ms. Laupp’s phone was flying with calls, messages, and notifications.
Now, Ms. Laupp, 51, known as “TikTok Grandma,” has been recruited by the Biden Digital Coalition, a grassroots organization, to put her TikTok skills to work to support the Joseph R. Biden Jr. presidential campaign.
The coalition, made up of about 100 people, many of whom are alumni of other Democratic presidential campaigns, works to amplify pro-Biden messages and generate engagement on social media. While not part of Mr. Biden’s campaign, he is in contact with Biden staff members. The coalition members, who are all volunteers, said they brought in Mrs. Laupp for her ability to turn a viral moment into a call to action.
“Cleary, something she had done worked very well, so we wanted to harness that energy,” said Caitlin Gilbert, co-chair of the coalition.
Laupp, who works in the music department at her local high school in Fort Dodge, Iowa, said she was delighted to join the Biden group.
“The offer was completely unexpected, but I am excited to be part of a team that is embracing social media technology as a campaign tool,” she said Friday.
He said his first task was to help build a “political advertising house” for Mr. Biden, who is essentially a group of content creators on TikTok who will make pro-Biden videos and explore the feasibility of campaigning in the application.
“My platform has become a strange gathering place for people who want to try to make a change,” said Laupp. Young people are “absolutely energetic and ready to go.”
Laupp, who has four children and six grandchildren, is an unlikely TikTok star. The entertainment app, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is known for its adolescent audience and even younger viewers, and for making 16-year-olds famous. Ms. Laupp, who is married to a minister, started using the app in May.
Raised in a Christian home in Michigan and a graduate of conservative Cornerstone University, Laupp said she had become more liberal over time. In the 2016 presidential election, she voted for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. This year, she volunteered for Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., At Iowa assemblies.
“When asked to name the greatest commandment, Jesus mentioned two: love God with everything you have and love everyone else,” said Laupp. “As it stands now, one party does a much better job of showing love, compassion, and empathy than the other.”
Denise Aptekar, who also worked on the Buttigieg campaign, said Laupp was responsible for involving young people in her high school.
“She called herself an unusual supporter of Pete given the conservative social circles in which he grew up,” Aptekar said.
The inspiration for the TikTok viral video came from a friend, Laupp said. For years, the friend had staged solo protests against political candidates she disliked by registering for her protests under a false name and not showing up.
Laupp wondered what would happen if masses of people did the same for the Trump rally in Tulsa. So she made a video urging viewers that “they want to see this 19,000-seat auditorium barely full or completely empty, go book tickets now, and just leave it there on stage,” and was “overwhelmed” by the response.
Since the Trump rally, Laupp has been inundated with requests from the media. The teens also contacted her online, offering suggestions on more ways to joke around with the Trump campaign.
Some young people have been “clicking” on the Trump campaign ads on Facebook, he said, reasoning that the ads will expire after a certain number of clicks and will cost money to renew. Others are loading their digital shopping carts into the Trump campaign produce store and abandoning them in an attempt to temporarily reduce inventory.
An idea that “bounces” quite often is another attempt to flood a Trump rally with ticket reservations and then not show up, he added. She said she was not sure the feat could be repeated.
“Can we really do the same magic trick twice?” she asked.
