She was here in Dallas to spread the message of the Republican Party to the American people. But the dozens of speeches during the first day of the convention described a booming country, and the president, in his keynote address, called the affordability crisis gripping the nation “fake.”
The reality for the hundreds of thousands of people who followed Ms. Shaffer online was different, and she sensed that such a sunny portrait would not be well received.
“Honestly, people are still hurting right now,” said Ms. Shaffer, whose online moniker has been “conservativebarbie2.0” since her first account was banned from TikTok during the pandemic for what she described as anti-conservative bias.
More than 100 influencers were invited to the midterm convention by members of the Republican National Committee, a committee spokeswoman said. They were given some of the best seats in the arena and special “creator” credentials that granted them access to a list of Republican Party leaders eager to sit for interviews.