Trump’s total embrace of TikTok goes unnoticed by China hawks

Former president Donald Trump has officially become a TikTok star. His account now has over 6.2 million followers and after his latest post with controversial social media influencer and professional wrestler Logan PaulTrump appears poised to continue his escalation over the Chinese app he once viewed as a threat to national security.

Trump’s light-hearted confrontation with Paul on TikTok was a far cry from the apocalyptic rhetoric he and much of the Republican Party have long directed at the app – with many dubbing it “digital fentanyl” and warning that it was a tool of foreign propaganda. used to brainwash America’s youth into hating their own country.

Few topics have sparked the fury of the American right like TikTok has in recent years, leading Trump to work to ban the app and denounce it repeatedly during his term.

China is hawking the Republican Party, according to the senator. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and media figures like Fox Marc Levin And Laura Ingraham as well as MAGA influencers like Laura Loomer And Charlie Kirk

all insisted on banning the app, which Kirk once considered a “societal toxin.”

As expected, the president Joe Biden was harshly criticized by the right in February when his campaign joined the platform. Biden has not only been accused of going soft on China, but also of hypocrisy in banning federal employees from using the app in 2022 and recently signing a bill to force TikTok’s Chinese owners to divest from the app or face a ban in the United States.

“Hey @joebiden, you’ve done a lot of stupid things over the last 3 years. Passing your data to China is perhaps the stupidest solution. Biden joins TikTok – and partners with China to spy on the American people,” the South Dakota governor wrote. Kristi Noem (R)on X after Biden campaign joined TikTok.

“The Biden campaign is bragging about using a Chinese spy app even though Biden signed a law banning it on all federal devices,” the senator said. Josh Hawley posted on X.

Gallagher, who chairs the House Committee on China, told Fox News at the time: “If we continue down this path, we will effectively cede control of our news media to a hostile foreign country.” This is unacceptable. I urge the president’s adult campaign staffers, you know, Gen Z TikTok to back off in the interest of national security.

Since then, Trump has gone much further than Biden in his adoption of TikTok; he didn’t just join the app

month, but promised to “never” ban the app if re-elected (during a conversation with Kirk, who also changed course).

The former president has also raised eyebrows, even among loyalists like Steve Bannonfor his meetings with Jeff Yass — the hedge fund billionaire who owns a $15 billion stake in TikTok and is currently the GOP’s largest donor.

Trump’s sudden about-face on TikTok has not gone completely unnoticed on the right. “This is a big mistake on the part of the Trump campaign,” Ingraham wrote on X, sharing an Axios article about Trump’s promise not to ban TikTok. Loomer railed against Yass in a March article and accused him of being behind Trump’s about-face. “Jeffrey Yass, the richest man in Pennsylvania and the largest American investor in Tik Tok. He hates Trump. But he is using the Club for Growth to try to stop Trump from banning TikTok,” Loomer wrote, adding, “Shameful.”

However, since Trump’s official post on the platform, criticism of Trump opposing the ban has gone from mild to non-existent on the right.

“Donald Trump is launching on TikTok, which is a great move because that’s where young people consume news,” said Kayleigh McEnany on Fox Outnumbered Wednesday. McEnany’s view was in stark contrast to Outnumbered guest Rebeccah Heinrichs, who criticized Biden earlier this year “for literally welcoming the Chinese spy balloon into your phone” when he

joins the application.

Noem, Hawley, Gallagher and the rest of the GOP have remained largely silent on Trump’s embrace of TikTok and his newfound willingness to embrace “digital fentanyl.” A search of Fox News on SnapStream monitoring shows that Ingraham, Levin and the other China hawks on Fox did not mention Trump joining TikTok — although the network covered the news.

It is certainly no surprise that Trump, the Republican Party’s demanding loyalty leader, is not under friendly fire from a party he has bent to his will. But the fact that he could get away with such a blatant about-face involving national security, China and an issue the Republican Party has been laser-focused on for years underlines in bright red just how far the party has evolved from problem status. based on politics and based on politics, to a party driven solely by the whims and personality of Trump.