“Captain America” star Chris Evans joined a group of high school seniors at the White House on Tuesday in an effort to get young people engaged with government and politics ahead of the 2024 election.
Biden administration officials, such as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, joined Tuesday’s discussion, led by Evans and fellow actor Mark Kassen, to talk about their roles in government and take questions from the Maryland and Virginia-area students.
Kassen noted many of those in attendance will be eligible to vote in their first election this November.
“Our goal in making sure that we can help demystify this a little bit and talking to you to help us demystify government, making people feel it's a little more accessible, is really important and this is a big part of that,” Kassen said to Jean-Pierre at the start of the event.
In 2020, Evans and Kassen, along with engineer and entrepreneur Joe Kiani, founded A Starting Point, an app and website focused on civic engagement through video. The pair headlined a National Press Club luncheon in Washington on Monday.
Tuesday's event comes as President Joe Biden is trying to shore up support from young voters as he seeks another four years in the White House, amid troublesome early polling for the Biden camp when it comes to the key voting bloc.
A recent poll from Harvard’s Institute of Politics found the percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 who say they plan to vote in 2024 is eight points lower than it was at the same time period ahead of the 2020 election.
In 2020, which saw record youth turnout, voters under the age of 30 picked Biden over former President Donald Trump by a 24 percentage point margin, according to the Pew Research Center.
But what has been perceived by young people, according to some polling, as a lack of urgency or progress on issues that drive many young voters, such as climate change, has caused some alartm for the Biden team ahead of the 2024 election. Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war could also have an impact; an NBC News poll released in December found 70% of respondents aged 18 to 34 disapproved of the president’s handling of the conflict.
In an appearance on CNN on Monday, Jean-Pierre laughed off a question regarding reports the Biden campaign is working hard to get pop star Taylor Swift’s endorsement this year (Swift endorsed Biden in 2020). Federal employees, such as Jean-Pierre, are barred from speaking about campaigns when acting in their government role under the Hatch Act.
“In my shop, in the press office shop, there are a lot of ‘Swifties’ if you will,” she said, declining to go further, citing the Hatch Act.
And the Biden White House is no stranger to bringing in young stars to help get a message across to America’s youth. In 2021, pop star Olivia Rodrigo, then 18, descended on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to help encourage young people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
For his part, Evans has been vocal on the issue of civic engagement, receiving arguably the most attention on the issue after being named People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive.” After earning the title, Evans was asked to “say something sexy,” before turning to a camera and saying “Go vote tomorrow,” referring to the 2022 midterm elections.