Just when you thought Italy’s most famous politician couldn’t get any more influential, Silvio Berlusconi has joined TikTok.
The 85-year-old former prime minister made his debut on the Chinese-owned social media site on Thursday and has his sights set on its core audience — young people.
Berlusconi has no shortage of media outlets through which to spread his message, as he owns Mediaset (home to many of Italy’s biggest TV stations) and the big publishing company Mondadori. But joining TikTok gives him a chance to engage with another, younger audience.
In his first — and so far only — TikTok video, the former prime minister explains that “on this platform, there are over 5 million of you guys and 60 percent of you are under 30 years old.”
“I suffer a little bit of envy, but I congratulate you all the same [on being young].”
Berlusconi needs those young people’s support as Italians go to the polls on September 25 for an election in which parties on the right are expected to come out on top.
In the video, Berlusconi said he wanted to talk about topics that are “closest to the hearts of [his party] Forza Italia and myself and that concern you.”
Only time will tell how Italy’s under-30s will respond to his overtures. Meanwhile, POLITICO is waiting for his first TikTok dance, to the tune of “Meno male che Silvio c’è” (Thank goodness for Silvio).