Biden and Trump Campaigns Depend on Big Tech Despite Calls for Regulation

Despite calls for checks on Big Tech by both President Biden and former President Trump, their campaigns continue to leverage the giant tech companies extensively. Federal Election Commission records for 2023 indicate that their campaign expenditure directed significant funds towards Big Tech, such as Meta (Facebook) and Amazon, for digital advertising and other services.

President Biden and Donald Trump, the two likely nominees, are staunch critics of the tech giants. Trump, who expressed antitrust worries and resorted to launching his Truth Social platform due to claimed bias against him by Big Tech, is curiously advertising on Facebook and utilizing Amazon for his campaign office supplies. Biden's administration concurrently navigates legal battles with Meta, Amazon, and Google, potentially with Apple in the pipeline; nonetheless, significant campaign investment is made into these same companies. These paradoxical dynamics highlight the dominance of Big Tech in America's day-to-day life, including politics.

The 2023 records show at least $30 million was spent on advertising by both campaigns. While some funds were allocated to linear television, a large chunk made its way to tech-giants in Silicon Valley. Advertising accounted for a sizable portion of the nearly $80 million total campaign expenditure by Biden and Trump combined.

Pinpointing exact amounts allocated to Big Tech from these ad budgets remains difficult, as various outside firms were contracted for expenses categorized as "online advertising" or "placed media." The Trump campaign funneled at least $11.5 million to such firms. Multiple attempts have been made to track this money; Bully Pulpit Interactive traced hundreds of thousands of dollars to Facebook and Google ads within the first few months of 2023, indicating that total spending most likely grew over the course of the year.

The Biden campaign similarly paid substantial amounts to Democratic-aligned firms, with a frequent recipient named Gambit Strategies, a firm run by two former Biden aides specializing in digital advertising. The firm received over $8 million from the Biden campaign in 2023.

Despite the conspicuous spending on Big Tech, both Biden and Trump continue to publicly critique these firms. Trump has called Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg a "weirdo," while Biden often challenges platforms on how they handle misinformation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the campaigns resort to Amazon and Apple for hosting websites, office supplies, and purchasing office equipment, reflecting the pervasiveness of these tech giants in their campaign operations. Both candidates have had their issues with Amazon; Biden—along with 17 states—filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of price inflation, while Trump has previously fraised antitrust concerns.

Interestingly, campaign spending also depicted a cultural dichotomy between the two campaigns, with Biden's team showing preference for Apple products, while Trump's campaign seemed to favor Uber for transportation and food delivery services. Both campaigns showed impartiality towards Twitter, with Trump's campaign merely paying for two premium subscriptions.

The records emphasize the inescapability of Big Tech for political campaigns, underscoring their ubiquity in American life even in the face of stern public criticism and legal battles. The tension between the candidates' rhetoric and their campaign's actions raises urgent questions about the true potential for reform in this sector.