The involvement of allies of the Republican presidential candidate in the Chinese media sector is on the rise.
Donald Trump, the likely GOP presidential candidate, is once again revising his views on TikTok. He is now arguing that it was not the conservatives who initially advocated for the ban of the popular social media platform, but rather President Joe Biden.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “For everyone’s information, particularly the youth, it’s ‘Crooked Joe Biden’ who is behind the TikTok ban.” He then concocted a fresh conspiracy theory that Biden is restricting American access to the platform to aid one of its competitors, Facebook.
Trump accused Biden of pushing for the closure of TikTok to enrich his friends at Facebook
Trump accused Biden of pushing for the closure of TikTok to enrich his friends at Facebook and enable them to continue their fight, possibly unlawfully, against the Republican Party. He labeled this as “ELECTION INTERFERENCE.”
This marks at least the third time Trump has conveniently overlooked his own efforts to ban the Chinese-owned app during his administration. Prior to Biden enacting the ban—allegedly for national security reasons—Trump had tried to eliminate TikTok through an executive order before his term ended in 2020. He asserted that the video-sharing platform posed a threat to the “national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”
This change of narrative comes at a convenient time for the presidential hopeful. Jeff Yass, a significant Republican donor whom Trump seems to be wooing, reportedly holds a 15% stake in TikTok. Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager who is allegedly trying to rejoin Trump’s team, has recently established business connections with the Chinese media sector.
Steven Mnuchin, another ally of Trump and former Treasury Secretary, disclosed his intentions to purchase the social media company through an investment group just a day after the House overwhelmingly supported the ban.
Mnuchin expressed his support for the legislation on CNBC in March, stating, “I believe the legislation should pass, and it should be sold. It’s a fantastic business, and I’m assembling a group to purchase TikTok.”
However, ByteDance, shortly after Biden signed the ban—which gave TikTok a choice to either sell its IP to an American owner or cease operations within the U.S.—announced that the company has “no plans to sell.”
