Kelly Loeffler, 55, has drawn widespread mockery online after posting a TikTok video that viewers found bizarrely staged and awkward.
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The clip, which has racked up nearly 400,000 views since it was posted Thursday, shows the Small Business Administration Administrator walking down a hallway lined with framed photographs of herself. Loeffler, a former U.S. Senator from Georgia, carried a black binder that appeared to contain no papers inside.
During the TikTok Q&A, Loeffler answered basic questions about her role. She recalled an “incredible conversation” with President Donald Trump after he asked her to become SBA administrator, followed by a text from him. “Actually, you’re going to be in the cabinet,” she quoted Trump as writing. The SBA Administrator position is not automatically guaranteed a cabinet seat, making the text exchange a notable point of pride for Loeffler.
She also revealed that her favorite part of the job is “obviously being out with small businesses.”
“Whether I’m walking a factory floor with a small manufacturer, or in a family owned generational restaurant, I can see the impact that the SBA is having through the work that our team does everyday,” she said in the video.
Elsewhere in the clip, Loeffler was asked about her height. “With heels or without?” She responded, before stating she is “5’11 and a half” without heels.
The video’s production choices quickly overshadowed its content. Social media users flooded the comments with ridicule about the empty binder and the hallway of self-portraits.
“First day in a human body is always awkward,” wrote one commenter.
“First day in a human body, apparently,” added another.
Others focused on the prop. “It’s the empty binder for me,” one viewer commented.
A fourth simply asked: “What is actually going on?!?”
The mockery extended across platforms, with the “first day on Earth” framing becoming a recurring joke about Loeffler’s stiff demeanor and seemingly unnatural on-camera presence.
Loeffler has not publicly responded to the criticism. Since posting the video Thursday, she has continued documenting her travels on the SBA’s social media accounts, including a video from the Field of Dreams baseball game and later footage from the Iowa State Fair, where she appeared on a panel and participated in festivities.
The TikTok debut comes after it was revealed last month that Trump’s Cabinet members would be joining the social media platform. The Justice Department had told federal employees the app was safe to use due to its sale to a U.S.-approved owner, reversing earlier restrictions on government devices.
Loeffler was confirmed as SBA Administrator in February by a 52-46 Senate vote. On her first day, she issued a memo outlining priorities to restructure the agency into what she called an “America First engine for free enterprise,” including eliminating fraud, cutting bureaucracy, and enforcing Trump’s executive orders.
“It’s a new day at the SBA,” Loeffler said in her Day One statement. “We will uphold the highest standards of accountability, performance, and integrity, ensuring taxpayer dollars are safeguarded, not squandered.”
In the viral moment that sparked the online pile-on, Loeffler’s TikTok video presented her walking past multiple framed photos of herself while holding an empty binder, answering FAQ’s about her position in clipped, seemingly rehearsed responses. The combination of self-portraits, the hollow prop, and her stilted delivery proved irresistible to mockery, with viewers comparing her affect to someone experiencing human existence for the first time.
Loeffler is scheduled to continue her “Made in America Manufacturing Tour” with upcoming stops including Alaska and Maine.