We were on Capitol Hill last week to sit down with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.
Our conversation centered on the push he’s leading to make Senate Democrats be more active on social media and ramp up their work with creators. But the scope quickly broadened.
We got Booker’s take on the new US TikTok, whether he supports social media bans for teens and what he thinks about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s social media strategy, which regularly trolls and parodies President Trump. (Booker called the approach “creative” and “hilarious.”)
Big picture, Booker said Senate Democrats weren’t “keeping up” with the explosion of the creator economy, which is “dominating more and more” and “growing exponentially.”
The 2024 presidential election was a reality check. “The Democratic Party was losing out and they didn’t understand where media was moving and didn’t find ways to really lean into those platforms,” Booker told us. He also said he told Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer that Democrats were “getting shellacked.”
Now Booker is trying to change that. One issue is that the median age of senators is 64.7, per data from Pew Research Center, and he said many of them weren’t comfortable using social apps. In some cases, Booker went to individual senators to convince them to get on board with posting more.
The push has been working. Between 2024 and 2025, engagement on Senate Democrats' own social media accounts grew 430%, according to data from the Strategic Communications Committee, which Booker chairs.
But there’s still more work to do. Democrats still lag Republicans when it comes to influencer strategies and using social media. Booker said that he hopes that a new generation of younger politicians, as well as new platforms and technology like AI will present more opportunities. (Read our recap of last week’s summit on Capitol Hill for more on this.)
The rise of social media and creators also comes with plenty of downsides, from the spread of misinformation to the negative impact on young people. That’s what prompted Australia to ban social media use for teens in December. Some European countries have since followed with bans or restrictions of their own.
Booker hopes such a ban will come to the US for teens under 16. “I think there should be a flat ban somewhere around those mid-teen years and definitely before,” he said.
“We're going to look back on this era as the same era that they used to let young people smoke cigarettes,” Booker argued, saying these platforms “have a really dark side.”
He’s also concerned about the new US TikTok, which is majority owned by US investors. “I have concerns when billionaires like Elon Musk or what-have-you get massive ownership stakes and then change the algorithm in ways that make them less free, fair platforms.” He added that social apps should be compensating creators fairly for their work.
We also asked Booker how his own social media strategy has changed since his days as mayor of Newark, which creators he personally follows and who he thinks will be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2028.
Tune into the full interview in our special episode of Scalable published on Wednesday. Plus, hear our takeaways and some of the behind-the-scenes moments of the interview, including Booker telling us he uses his Oura ring as his wedding band, which apparently is part of a bigger trend.
You can watch on YouTube and Spotify or tune in anywhere you get your podcasts.
