The TikTok “ban” bill has passed the House of Representatives, and Donald Trump wants to be sure that young voters blame somebody besides him — ideally, his rival for the presidency, Joe Biden.
Trump seems to be aiming his latest rhetoric at people with short memories, or new voters who may not have been aware the short video app was at risk during the last presidential administration. He’s blaming Biden — but Trump was the one to initially raise the prospect of banning the app altogether.
Legislators supporting the previous version of this bill have emphasized that it’s not a ban, but a requirement for China to get out of the U.S. iteration of the app. It only becomes a ban when and if the company refuses to sell within 360 days of the president’s signature.
Though such legislation stalled last month, the current version is less likely to do so, since it is attached to aid for Ukraine and Israel. It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, but according to Trump, this is a Biden problem. He posted on social media:
“Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok. He is the one pushing it to close, and doing it to help his friends over at Facebook become richer and more dominant, and able to continue to fight, perhaps illegally, the Republican Party. It’s called ELECTION INTERFERENCE! Young people, and lots of others, must remember this on November 5th, ELECTION DAY, when they vote!”
That’s rather ironic since Trump himself fought to ban TikTok during his presidency. In fact, he signed an executive order to do so, even after users organized protests against him, including posting negative reviews on his own app and reserving tickets for his rallies to leave seats unfilled.
Trump’s Executive Order can still be seen on the archived copy of the White House website from his administration. He wrote, in part:
“American companies and organizations have begun banning TikTok on their devices. The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security.”
He floated the possibility of banning the app multiple times, in fact, and eventually signed the EO (which was blocked by courts) requiring the company to divest its U.S. interests within 45 days. At other times, he implied that it could simply be a ban. Speaking to the press ahead of a flight in July 2020, Trump said:
“We’re looking at TikTok. We may be banning TikTok. We may be doing some other things. There are a couple of options.”
https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1289264182056099840
He defended his position vociferously, tweeting out opinion pieces and reports of those who agreed with him. For example, on July 8, 2020, Trump retweeted a report centering on why Senator Tom Cotton agreed that TikTok is a risk to privacy.
Trump says TikTok will either be sold or closed by September 15th: "I'm not extending deadlines." pic.twitter.com/zgrvvqtAZi
— The Recount (@therecount) September 10, 2020
The current deal, assuming that it passes the Senate and President Biden signs it, would force the same. Either the app would be sold, or banned from U.S. app stores.
The major differences between this version and Trump’s are that his was an executive order, and this time it’s bipartisan legislation; and that his version gave the company 45 days to get out, while the current legislation is giving almost a year.
Still, Trump is extremely desperate for young voters to think that it’s a Biden ban.
See his full post below.
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