San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie Is All Over Instagram. Is He Saying Enough?

When San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie took to Instagram to announce that a store selling Labubus plush dolls would soon open in Union Square, his thumb was on the pulse.

The monster-like dolls have gone viral online among collectors worldwide and have become a social media meme for their absurdity. Lurie’s Instagram post performed well for his account, generating plenty of LOLs and laughing-crying emojis.

But Lurie didn’t read the room. His cheeky celebration of economic recovery downtown came a day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials violently clashed with protesters outside the city’s downtown courthouse.

In typical internet fashion, backlash followed almost immediately.

“It’s troublingly dystopian to see this video about Labubus from you while your constituents are being kidnapped by federal agents, and those who are trying to stop that from happening are being brutalized. Is this what you want your legacy to be?” read one comment from a group representing a coalition of left-leaning San Francisco City Workers.

The comment was one of many criticizing the mayor online for not speaking out more about escalating ICE raids in San Francisco this year.

Lurie takes a cautious, positive approach on TikTok and Instagram, highlighting the city’s recovery while avoiding the partisan fights that fuel much of today’s online political discourse. His strategy reflects the challenge moderate Democrats face in balancing tough issues with hopeful messaging in a polarized digital landscape.

Every day, he speaks directly to residents through selfie videos showing off things like thriving coffee shops, housing development plans or AI companies making San Francisco their home base.

“What I think is important is that we’ve got to show all the good things happening,” Lurie told KQED after wrapping up a selfie video with Warriors star Jimmy Butler at his new coffee pop-up in the Mission.

The mayor isn’t shying away from tough topics that San Franciscans care about, like the city’s $800-million budget deficit, homelessness and the overdose crisis. He often films himself walking through parts of the city, talking to residents where those issues are most visible.

“I’ll be totally transparent, while driving here, I saw people struggling on the street,” he said on Mission Street. “We have to be honest and transparent with people, and that’s what we’re able to do with our Instagram.”

Lurie strikes a different tone online compared to other politicians who have fueled and benefited from online vitriol. President Donald Trump, who also owns the social media website Truth Social, exemplifies how lashing out at political opponents (or allies) online can have real implications and capture the internet’s fleeting attention. Trump’s posts have had wild success on social media platforms like X, where studies show posts from conservative politicians are amplified.

Some Democrats have found their niche, too. Gov. Gavin Newsom, for example, saw a boost in popularity online after criticizing Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles during anti-ICE protests and posting things like Star Wars memes to mock White House actions.

“At this moment, what goes viral, what gets attention, is really being outspoken either as a MAGA guy or as an anti-MAGA person. And Lurie struggles with both of those,” said Lincoln Mitchell, who teaches politics at Columbia University and writes about San Francisco, where he grew up.

Partisan conflict isn’t the only ticket to online success for politicians. New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has become nationally known through TikTok and Instagram videos explaining populist economic ideas like free bus service and child care — a factor credited as a powerful tool in his rise and victory in the city’s mayoral race primary.

“Lurie’s not doing just the vibes and values like [Kamala] Harris. He’s also not quite Mamdani, who had this amazing two-minute video of him breaking down the food truck permitting process,” said Zeve Sanderson, executive director of NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics. “He sort of sits in between those two poles.”

Lurie isn’t picking fights or giving followers radical new ideas to chew on. His focus appears to be on presenting a counter-narrative to the so-called “doom loop,” contrasting with his predecessor, former Mayor London Breed.

“It’s a good political strategy,” Mitchell said of Lurie’s pro-San Francisco tone. “His predecessor decided that she could benefit by telling a story about how horrible San Francisco is. That has never worked, right?”

For some residents, Lurie’s affable selfie videos are a welcome reprieve from headlines of the city’s struggles.

“It seems super personable. And the fact that he’s the one taking the selfie videos seems more personal with SF residents versus just having someone make it super professional,” said Boris Cotom, an Excelsior resident who brought his younger brother to wait in line at Butler’s coffee pop-up. “I think it’s a cool way to kind of show what he’s been doing for the city so far.”

A recent San Francisco Chronicle poll found similar opinions. Half of surveyed voters said the mayor should remain focused on local issues, and 29% said Lurie should help lead the opposition to Trump. His Instagram account drew 9.7 million views in the past month, reaching more than 880,000 accounts — all without paid promotion, according to the mayor’s office.

Lurie’s cautious online approach aims to project his genuine optimism on the city’s recovery, according to Annie Gabillet, who manages his social media with Gen Z staffers Haakon Black and Sophia Robles-Mendoza. The team follows Lurie around throughout the day, snapping photos, revising texts and quickly editing his videos for residents to see what the mayor is up to.

The upbeat “cheerleader dad” tone is authentic to his personality off-camera. A moderate Democrat and father of two, he has rarely, if ever, said Trump’s name when asked by reporters about federal issues affecting San Franciscans.

Meanwhile, several city supervisors have participated in anti-ICE protests. Lurie’s cautious stance has left some followers frustrated, comments to his posts show, and feeling like their outrage over mass deportations, wealth inequality and cuts to public services isn’t echoed by their mayor, who is also an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune.

“Politicians just a few years ago were less willing to get into arguments on social media or directly engage in criticism. And I think today, establishment politicians who have been around a while do that on the flip side, sort of Bravo TV-style, just steering into fights,” Sanderson said. “[Lurie] seems to engage with what he perceives to be criticisms or problems, but he doesn’t go full Newsom.”

Lurie had never posted a selfie video before running for office. But he understands how provocative content tends to get more attention.

That was apparent when JJ Smith, who frequently posts videos of unhoused residents and outdoor drug use on X, filmed Lurie approaching him on the street. In the video, Lurie told Smith that his posting “kills our economy.”

It’s unclear if Lurie would help San Francisco by fighting with Republicans online. Breed struck a much stronger tone against Trump during his first presidential term, while Lurie has managed to somewhat steer right-wing pundits’ attention away from the city’s ills.

When he does wade into thornier territory, such as the city’s drug and homelessness crises, Lurie often acknowledges that there’s “more work to do.”

After visiting Butler’s pop-up on Valencia Street, Lurie’s team headed to 16th Street to observe conditions around homelessness and drug use, which neighbors say have worsened as crackdowns in the Tenderloin and South of Market have displaced issues to other neighborhoods.

At the 16th Street BART station, Lurie stopped and faced Black, his cameraman, while Gabillet stood to the side, ready to offer feedback. In two takes, Lurie summarized what he saw in the area: mild but incomplete progress clearing the area of outdoor drug use. He chatted with neighborhood outreach workers and police officers before returning to City Hall.

“Politicizing it, I don’t get into that. I’m going to work with anybody that wants to fix this issue,” Lurie said as he strolled down Mission Street. “We’re going to work with every side of the issue.”

Asked about his carefully crafted online persona and his restraint from wading into heated online debates, Lurie said, “I’m trying to highlight not just to San Franciscans but to the world what is so unique and special about San Francisco.”