Even after former President Donald J. Trump reversed course and vowed to firmly oppose targeting, House Republican leaders this week announced plans to force TikTok's Chinese owners to sell or face a U.S. ban. The government is systematically moving forward with voting on a bill that would make it more difficult to deal with. A popular social media app he once vowed to ban.
Rep. Steve Scalise, the Louisiana Republican and majority leader, said Monday that the House will pass the bill under a special procedure created for non-controversial bills that requires a two-thirds majority to pass. He said he would try to hasten the passage of the bill. The approach reflected the bill's momentum on Capitol Hill in an election year, when lawmakers from both parties want to signal a tough stance on China.
“We must ensure that the Chinese government cannot weaponize TikTok against American users and our government through data collection and propaganda,” Scalise said in a weekly preview of bills before the House.
The 13-page bill is the product of the Chinese Communist Party Select Committee, which has functioned as an island of bipartisanship in the polarized House. The House Energy and Commerce Committee last week unanimously passed a bill that would remove TikTok from U.S. app stores by September 30 unless its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance sells its stake.
But Trump, who issued an executive order as president to do just that, is now vocally opposed to the bill, a move that will test his ability to continue blocking bipartisan legislation in Congress from campaigning.
Trump gave a rambling explanation for his reversal on Monday, saying he didn't want to alienate young voters or impose more power on Facebook, which he views as his mortal enemy.
In an interview with CNBC, Trump said he still believes TikTok is a national security threat, but that banning it would drive young people “out of their minds.” He added that any action that harms the platform benefits Facebook, which he called an “enemy of the people.”
“Frankly, there's a lot of people who love TikTok,” Trump said. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who would otherwise be hooked.”
“There's a lot of good and bad about TikTok,” he added, “but what I don't like is that without TikTok Facebook could be big and I think Facebook is the enemy of the people.” ”, along with many media outlets. ”
It is not yet clear whether Mr. Trump's reversal on the issue will undermine the bill's broad support base in the House, and the fight over the bill is tense. Last week, many lawmakers were outraged after TikTok sent users flooding Congressional phone lines with calls imploring lawmakers not to shut down the platform.
“President Trump's TikTok flip puts House Republicans in a very awkward position, forcing them to choose between supporting Trump or standing up to China,” said Democratic strategist Jeff Garlin. That's because it will happen.'' “Voters on both sides of the aisle don't trust China to play by any meaningful rules and believe that China is determined to get away with whatever it can get away with. It would also apply.”
The bill is one of several efforts over the past year aimed at curtailing TikTok over concerns that ByteDance's ties to the Chinese government pose a risk to national security, and President Biden has He said he would sign it.
One of the bill's co-sponsors is New York Representative Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 Republican, whose name is on every short list of Mr. Trump's running mate and former He is rarely out of sync with the president. .
Trump, who is on track to win the Republican nomination, is wielding more power than ever since leaving office to control his party's agenda in Congress. His vocal opposition to the pending TikTok bill comes as he leverages his influence with Congressional Republicans to push for bipartisan immigration in the Senate, touted as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for conservative border security legislation. This comes just weeks after he helped pass the bill.
But unlike the immigration issue, the two parties are not divided over TikTok. Both see political advantages in supporting policies targeting China.
Still, Trump's opposition to the bill appears to be having some effect. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said on “Meet the Press” that the ban is “really contradictory.” In 2020, Graham defended Trump's executive action against the company, saying that the president “doesn't own TikTok and, most importantly, doesn't own all your personal data. It is right that we want to confirm this,” he wrote on social media. ”
Graham said Sunday he didn't yet know how he would vote on the bill if it goes to the Senate. “I'm definitely conflicted,” he said.
It's also unclear how the bill will fare in the Senate, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., not committing to introducing the bill.
In a rare sign of bipartisanship in the House, the top Republicans and Democrats on the China committee use nearly identical language to describe TikTok's risks.
“America's greatest enemy has no business controlling America's dominant media platforms,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the Republican chairman. Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois said that as long as TikTok remains owned by ByteDance, it “poses a grave threat to our national security.”
But after the bill passed a House committee last week, Trump slammed his own social media platform, TruthSocial, writing that Facebook's business would double if they “removed TikTok.” He said he doesn't want Facebook to “improve.”
Trump was banned from Facebook the day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and returned early last year.
To support his claim that he is an “enemy of the people,” Trump has criticized the grants Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg made to state and local election offices in 2020 to help administer voting during the pandemic. Named money. Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Zuckerberg, whose website was part of the Trump campaign's strategy in both 2016 and 2020, should be sentenced to prison for those donations.
On Monday, Trump was asked about allegations that he was “paid” to change his view of TikTok after a meeting with billionaire Jeff Yas, a major investor in TikTok. denied. Trump reportedly praised Yas, a major donor to the Club for Growth, as “amazing” and the organization recently deepened its relationship with Yas after a month-long hiatus.
Through Club for Growth, Yass funded a massive advocacy effort in Washington to block the banning of TikTok. He and his allies have recruited several former Trump administration officials to help with the effort, including Tony Sayegh, a former Treasury official, and Kellyanne Sayegh, a former senior adviser to the president. Including Mr. Conway.
In an interview with CNBC, Trump said TikTok was not discussed in his meeting with Yas.
“No, I didn't,” Trump said, adding that it was a brief meeting with Yas and his wife. “He never mentioned TikTok.”
Trump's criticism of the new bill comes as he has moved to restrict the company while in office. An executive order he signed in August 2020 said TikTok's collection of data from users “could allow the Chinese Communist Party to access Americans' personal and confidential information.” He added that TikTok could be used to spread disinformation that benefits the Chinese government.
“These risks are real,” the executive order says.
The Trump administration has moved to block TikTok from Apple and Google's app stores due to concerns about China's ownership of the app. However, federal courts have repeatedly ruled to block Trump's ban on TikTok from taking effect.
david mccabe and Maggie Haberman Contributed to the report.