President-elect Donald Trump is already flip-flopping on several key issues following Election Day, but perhaps none are as blatantly hypocritical as his newfound love for the video-sharing app, TikTok.
Hey, remember that time when Trump tried to effectively ban one of the largest social media platforms in the world from the U.S. market? Same! His aptly-dubbed “TikTok ban” sparked mass hysteria online back in 2020, shortly before his first term was up. Trump’s reasoning? National security, as TikTok and WeChat’s owner, China-based company ByteDance Ltd., has been accused of breaching Americans’ privacy by accessing user data (per CNN).
His plan never came to fruition, however, much like most of his failed business ventures. Nothing new there! Ironically, Trump then went on to make an official TikTok account in June 2024 to continue to spread misinformation to a whole new demographic of MAGA loyalists, declaring in his first upload, “I’m gonna save TikTok.” Now, new reports suggest that he’s going to fulfill that promise upon his return to the White House, as he’s supposedly full-steam ahead on team TikTok. So what led to his change in heart?
Trump ‘appreciates’ TikTok, says former counselor
When she’s not spewing nonsense on Fox News, real-life supervillain Kellyanne Conway can usually be found kissing the feet of her ex-boss, Donald Trump. And now, Conway is proving Trump’s hypocrisy once and for all, having told The Washington Post on Tuesday that Trump is expected to halt a bill signed by President Joe Biden that could, if not sold to new buyers, lead to a nationwide TikTok ban.
“He appreciates the breadth and reach of TikTok, which he used masterfully along with podcasts and new media entrants to win,” Conway said on behalf of Trump, adding, “There are many ways to hold China to account outside alienating 180 million U.S. users each month. Trump recognized early on that Democrats are the party of bans—gas-powered cars, menthol cigarettes, vapes, plastic straws, and TikTok—and to let them own that draconian, anti-personal choice space.”
Oh, right, because gas-powered vehicles, plastic straws, and vapes definitely can’t be found in literally every corner of American society—duh! Surprise surprise, a nefarious MAGA truther is being dramatic again. Conway went on to explain that TikTok played a pivotal role in drawing young voters to Trump’s campaign, which, unfortunately, isn’t too far from the truth. Well, far from the truth, actually, in the sense that his entire campaign was rife with misinformation and some sneaky behind-the-scenes support from TikTok’s own algorithm, but I digress.
America’s TikTok ban is all Joe Biden’s fault, apparently
If Trump hates TikTok, there’s one platform he hates more: Facebook. “Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump told CNBC in March. He also blamed “Crooked Joe Biden” for TikTok’s potential ban, implying that Biden was trying to interfere with the election…even though he was the one who drafted an executive order to wipe it from the American market, mind you.
Again, this whole thing screams “fishy” to me, as Trump has reportedly been in cahoots with TikTok investor and prominent Republican donor Jeff Yass (per Vanity Fair) in recent years. Trump is basically the king of shady under-the-table business deals, so yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if something sinister was at play here—a lot of people stand to earn/lose money from this, regardless of what goes down.
For now, we have to wait until January 19 (a.k.a. the day before Trump’s inauguration) to learn what the fate of TikTok will be, but ByteDance hasn’t given any signs of budging. If Trump can really “save” the beloved app by finding new owners, it would certainly be good optics—especially for the pro-free speech Elon Musk bros out there. But is it really a matter of Americans’ access to media, or simply just another way for Trump HQ to win over its ultra-wealthy investors?
Published: Nov 12, 2024 11:39 pm