Manager of the campaign of Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Clouthier has come to national attention as the campaign manager for the 2018 presidential campaign of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.^[5][13] She articulated and promoted the potential benefits of electing Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the Presidency of Mexico.^[3][14][15]

Despite her history, her choice to support López Obrador came as a surprise to her family.^[14] However, she states that many of the candidate's political positions are similar to those of her father, who was also called a populist.^[6][8][11] Despite her close association with López Obrador, she is not a member of his party.^[6][5][11] She states she has disagreements with López Obrador but will not say what they are publicly.^[5]

Clouthier's main success has been managing the candidate's and campaign's online presence, especially in social media and particularly in a Twitter account called Abre Más Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes Wider).^[6][16][17] One of her sisters once told her that if Twitter did not exist, Clouthier would have invented it. She discovered Twitter during her work with various civic organizations, as a way to reach the public quickly. Then she began using it for lower-level political campaigns, especially for recruiting. She likes the platform because it is immediate, short and direct, considering it a natural ally for the campaign. She directs a team responsible for social media messaging, focused on pushing the campaign's narrative and defending against attacks by other candidates.^[7][5][17] In particular, she has been successful in communicating political ideas through videos, images, GIFs and memes. Her social media work riffs off of popular culture and statements by the other campaigns. For example, she had an image of López Obrador photoshopped with the gauntlet from Infinity War with the five gems of power. Underneath the image appear the words “corruption disintegrating".^[18]

Her success in this area has moved her into the spotlight, now appearing more traditional media, and other more traditional publicity moves. She boarded the Metro in Mexico City to pass out flyers among riders along with the Regeneración newspaper.^[2][7][13]

However, not all of her work with the campaign has been successful. Media and opposing candidates challenged tweets made asserting that between 2001 and 2004, when López Obrador headed the Mexico City government, that Mexico City had attracted 57.8% of the country's foreign investment, stating that “…the numbers do not lie.” However, according to the Secretariat of the Economy, the city attracted only 26.36%. Other numbers off too. The scandals was dubbed in the press “Pejenomics” after the candidate's nickname^[16] Another problem on Twitter occurred when she appeared in a photo with a Rolex watch. The image contrasted with the austere image of the campaign, forcing her to state that it had been a gift from her husband on the birth of their second son.^[19] In Buzzfeed News, she stated that she should not be called a feminist because the term “is out of fashion as such” (está pasado de moda como tal) and for her, it is not about creating spaces for women in the workplace but rather that women have access to services they need for their families, such as childcare. The statement caused some controversy.^[5] There was a false report that she suspended activities due to death threats, but she says she was never threatened.^[20]

She was relatively unknown at the start of López Obrador's campaign, but became one of its main protagonists, becoming an icon.^{[6][5][13][15]} Clouthier's work succeeded in bringing many young people to the campaign, and her popularity is such that other candidates have reminded voters that López Obrador is running for president and not her. From her connection with Mexican youth, she was nicknamed on Twitter as "Tía Tatis" ("Aunt Tatis").^[21]

After campaign of Andrés Manuel López Obrador

After receiving offers to be part of the Andrés Manuel López Obrador's cabinet,^[22] Tatiana Clouthier chose to be a Proportional Representation Deputy for the Chamber of Deputies, a position she held from December 1, 2018 to December 7, 2020. On that date she was appointed by López Obrador as Secretary of Economy.^[4] In 2021, Clouthier commissioned Rodney Frelinghuysen, a former member of the United States House of Representatives, to lobby on behalf of the Secretary of Economy's interests in Washington.^[23]