‘I have a warm spot in my heart’: Trump praises popular social media app despite possibly banning it
TikTok is on the verge of getting banned in the United States and yet Donald Trump is cozying up to the company’s CEO. What exactly is going on?
It seems as if Trump is trying to use the anger that people feel about the TikTok ban to his advantage. Inviting TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to Mar-a-Lago, Trump did a press conference where he talked about the social media platform. Currently, the Supreme Court has been asked to block the law that could result in the banning of TikTok. Chew had been reportedly trying to meet with Trump prior to his inauguration to talk to him about the app.
“We’ll take a look at TikTok,” Trump said in a press conference that was held on Monday via HuffPost. “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points and there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that.” This is not true according to the New York Times. Exit polls showed Vice President Kamala Harris receiving the most votes from the younger demographic.
Trump’s stance on TikTok now that he thinks it helped him win the election is very different from his first term as President.
Back in 2020, when TikTok’s success was on the rise, Trump tried to ban the app. Because it is a Chinese social media platform, Trump viewed the platform as a “national security threat” and put the wheels in motion to get in banned from American users. Influencers and the general public were angered by the idea that the app would be taken away from them.
So why the sudden change of heart? What happened for Trump to consider overriding what he previously did?
Trump previously tried to ban TikTok, so why save it now?
The answer to why Trump suddenly cares is right there in his response at the press conference. He thinks the app helped him and his reach. If Elon Musk didn’t run X into the ground and Jack Dorsey was still in charge, do you think Trump would allow Twitter to say a thing? He’d find some way to get it banned, just as he was doing with TikTok prior to someone on his team telling him otherwise.
Clearly, they lied to him. Because he didn’t get more of the younger demographic. But hey, if it means that we get to keep TikTok, can we keep lying to him about things? “Abortions are actually really great for men and trans rights help you get votes for your third term you can totally have.” Just lie outright if he is this wishy washy about things.
Who knows what is actually going to happen to the app. He doesn’t have absolute power so he can’t just change his mind about it. But the fact that HE was the reason this started and now he suddenly thinks he can save it really is the epitome of Trump’s deal. He just causes problems and then acts like a savior when he attempts to fix what he did. Rinse, wash, repeat.
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