Former President Trump changed course and now opposes the ban on the social media company TikTok. But his new stance — and a full-court press from TikTok and its millions of users — isn’t impressing his fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill.
House GOP leaders are moving ahead with a vote Wednesday on legislation that would ban TikTok from U.S. app stores until its parent company, China-based ByteDance, sells the popular video-based app. Don’t agree to split the app.
And even some of Trump’s conservative allies in Congress said they had no problem calling out their party’s presumptive nominee for president in his new position on TikTok.
“Well, he’s wrong. And by the way, he had his executive orders and his actions that he was doing, and now … he’s suddenly turned around on that,” of the far-right Freedom Caucus. said the member, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. “I mean, it’s not the first or last time I’m going to disagree with a former president. The issue with TikTok is very straightforward.”
“I have respect and admiration for President Trump,” added Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., another Trump supporter. “No one controls how I vote on certain issues.”
The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — co-authored by Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamurthy, D-Ill., the leaders of the Select Committee Investigating the Chinese Communist Party. — got a boost of momentum last week when it cleared the Energy and Commerce Committee on a rare 50-0 vote. President Joe Biden has endorsed the bill.
Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rogers said, “TikTok has to choose whether or not to stay connected to Byte Dance and ultimately be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, or if it wants to sell and operate in the United States. make choices,” said Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris-Rogers, R-Wash., who pushed the bill through her committee.
It is expected to travel through the House on Wednesday, though it faces a more uncertain road in the Senate, where leaders say they are still reviewing the legislation.
FBI Director Christopher Wray and lawmakers from both parties say they consider TikTok a national security threat. In particular, they are concerned that the Chinese government could use TikTok to access the personal data of its more than 150 million users and use algorithms to show them videos that target them on issues including the upcoming presidential election. can affect the thoughts of
This bill is a separation from the Communist Party of China. It’s very simple,” said Diaz-Balart, whose family fled Cuba after Fidel Castro seized power. “We never accepted ownership of the Communist Party of China or the Soviet Union or NBC or CBS. “What?”
National security officials will hold a secret briefing Tuesday afternoon for all members of the House focused on the threats posed by TikTok. Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this week, Trump also said he agreed TikTok was a serious national security threat, but said he could not support banning the app because Doing so would help rival Facebook, which he called the “enemy.” the people.”
In testimony before Congress, TikTok CEO Shu Zhiqiu denied that the Chinese government controls the app and pushed back against suggestions that China accesses US user data.
With its back against the wall, TikTok is trying to pressure lawmakers to get its millions of users to oppose the bill. The social media behemoth deployed a pop-up on its app instructing users to call their representatives, which overwhelmed congressional offices last week. Messages within the app continued Tuesday, with one saying “The government will take away the community you and millions of other Americans love.”
Gallagher and Krishnamurthy sent the show a letter “demanding that TikTok stop spreading false claims by the Chinese Communist Party in its campaign to manipulate and mobilize American citizens.” In a letter, TikTok responded by saying that “it is all too clear that their [Congress’s] real goal is to ban TikTok in the United States.”
TikTok creators are on the Hill Tuesday lobbying House and Senate members “about the economic impact of the ban on their livelihoods,” according to a source familiar with the matter.
Shaw will meet with senators on Wednesday and Thursday as the fight moves to the upper house.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., another Trump aide, said she saw Trump’s statement on TikTok and was “taking it into consideration.” But he added that the US is now at a dangerous crossroads with China.
“And this app has the potential to be a mass surveillance tool against the American people. So it’s all about people who use social media,” said Luna, a former Air Force veteran, and Instagram user are influenced by.”