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This week, President Trump laid the blame for the recently passed legislation in Congress that could potentially ban the popular social media app, TikTok, in the United States squarely on the shoulders of Joe Biden.
“Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The so-called “TikTok bill” was passed last week in the House and will force its parent company, ByteDance, to divest its stake in the app. Their possible failure to comply would result in TikTok’s ban in the United States.
According to the Associated Press, the legislation was passed as part of Congress’s broader vote on a foreign aid package last week and gives ByteDance nine months to sell its interest in TikTok.
The House had passed a bill aimed at banning TikTok in the spring, but it faced opposition in the Senate. It is unclear how the Senate will receive this newer and reworked legislation with a prolonged deadline for ByteDance.
In the spring, Trump argued that, ultimately, banning TikTok would only make Meta (Facebook) stronger. “LIKE CROOKED JOE BIDEN, FACEBOOK IS A GREAT THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, AND IT WILL ONLY GET BIGGER AND STRONGER IF TIKTOK IS TAKEN OUT,” he stated previously.
In his most recent comments, he doubled down on this stance, stating that cutting TikTok out of the picture would only strengthen Facebook’s monopoly in America and allow them to “continue to fight, perhaps illegally, the Republican Party.”
Trump continued, “Young people, and lots of others, must remember this on November 5th, ELECTION DAY, when they vote! They also must remember, more importantly, that he [Biden] is destroying our Country, and is A MAJOR THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!”
Per the AP, the intensity of Congressional attacks on TikTok as a platform is unprecedented, in that lawmakers in Washington have rarely – if ever – attempted to step in and force the closure of a social media company or implement safety protocols for an app.