Back in August, when it looked like the Federal Reserve was about to cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years, Vivian Tu took to TikTok to explain to her roughly 2.6 million followers what that move by the central bank would mean for them.
“Fed Daddy has all but guaranteed to lower interest rates in September,” she announced, trotting out her frequent nickname for Jerome H. Powell, the institution’s chair. “Pros: When the Fed lowers interest rates, we’ll see mortgages, car loans, personal and business loans, those rates will come down too.”
Then in a clip in October, Ms. Tu — who bills herself on social media as “Your Rich BFF” — explained how to know whether to refinance a home loan, walking tens of thousands of viewers through a mortgage calculator. That clip is nestled in her feed next to a photo of Ms. Tu slapping high fives with the former…
