Former President Donald Trump made it clear in an interview with CNBC that he sees TikTok as a national security threat, but he also sees Facebook as an “enemy of the people.”
As president, Trump had once called for a ban on TikTok, a move blocked in Congress. Now, he says he can’t support one because it would elevate Facebook which has censored conservatives, including the former president himself, and allegedly attempted to manipulate elections.
CNBC’s “Squawk Box” asked Trump on Monday if he still considers TikTok to be a national security threat and he answered, “I do believe that. I do believe it, and we have to very much admit we are protecting American people’s privacy and data rights.”
“Trump had initially supported efforts to ban the app in the U.S. but recently reversed his support. Pressed on why he flipped, Trump said he could have banned TikTok during his presidency, but left it up to Congress to do so,” CNBC reported.
(Video Credit: CNBC Television)
“But as you know, I was at the point where I could have gotten it done if I wanted to. I should have said, you guys decide, you make that decision because there are a lot of people who talk that love it,” he responded during the interview. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it. There are a lot of users.”
The former president believes that banning TikTok at this point will make Facebook stronger and he considers that very dangerous to Americans.
Bashing TikTok is easy. Understanding the actual issue is harder. President Trump just came out opposing the pending legislation. Here’s why that’s right: we need to end *all* forced data transfers to the CCP, regardless of ownership. pic.twitter.com/sp8PrrERZ2
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) March 9, 2024
“There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok. But the thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people along with a lot of the media,” Trump asserted.
He said the same thing about Facebook last week in a Truth Social post, “If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!”
“The bipartisan leaders of the select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., have co-authored a bill that could lead to a ban of the popular app in the U.S. if it does not cut ties with its parent company, China-based ByteDance. President Joe Biden has expressed support for the bill,” CNBC noted.
A vote is coming up this week on the TikTok bill according to Leader Steve Scalise’s spokesperson Lauren Fine who spoke with NBC News. Two-thirds of the members will have to support the bill for it to pass.
“The bill comes amid concerns from U.S. lawmakers and intelligence officials that the Chinese government could use TikTok as a tool to obtain data from its users and expose them to content that could potentially influence their views on issues such as the November presidential election. During hourslong testimony before Congress last year, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew maintained that the app is safe and secure, and denied that the Chinese government uses it to access U.S. user data,” CNBC concluded.
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Author: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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