Republicans Soften on TikTok Divestment After Trump Comments
Some Republicans are softening their support for forced divestment of TikTok after President-elect Donald Trump vowed during the campaign he would “save” the Chinese social media app.
Trump in September urged Americans to vote for him if they want to “save TikTok in America,” and he blamed Democrats for a new law seeking divestment from Chinese parent company ByteDance. Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway recently told The Washington Post that Trump would advocate for TikTok, which is suing to block the law (see 2404260039). The bill passed overwhelmingly in both the Senate and the House earlier this year (see 2404240060), and ByteDance faces a Jan. 19 deadline to divest.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, voted for the divestment bill, but told us Tuesday he supports Trump now. During his first term, Trump signed an executive order banning U.S. transactions with TikTok (see 2106090076), a measure President Joe Biden reversed.
“That was a tough vote either way, so I understand that if the president, the commander in chief, if he thinks that [a reversal] makes sense, then I think that would be fine,” Jordan said Tuesday. He told us he was undecided leading up to the vote in the House. “I’m so nervous about First Amendment issues, so I was totally up in the air. If he wants to change it, I’ve got no problem with that.”
Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, told reporters Wednesday he’s deferring to the president-elect on TikTok. Rubio led several legislative efforts against TikTok (see 2306140044) and 2303130042).
“He’s the president, so if that’s what he wants to do, he also has the power to do it,” said Rubio. “He was elected by the American people by an overwhelming margin. I still have concerns about the app and the vulnerability it poses, but I’m not the president of the United States.”
Trump would need to find lawmakers to lead a legislative push to reverse course. Opponents of the new law have also pointed to the possibility it will get struck down in court as unconstitutional.
“Yeah, I think there’s a First Amendment problem with telling 100 million American teenagers and young adults they can’t broadcast their opinions on TikTok,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told us. Paul voted against the TikTok bill. “So I’m hopeful the court strikes it down. I’m hopeful Trump would get involved in striking it down, too. The problem is it’s already legislation, so it’s probably going to be in the courts.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., told reporters the overwhelming support for the bill on Capitol Hill shows lawmakers trusted the evidence suggesting TikTok collects U.S. data and manipulates American users. The Trump who tried to ban the app through executive action “was right,” and “we’ll see what this Trump decides to do,” said Warner.
“The law is the law,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.: Trump is welcome to try to reverse, but Congress was clear on its position. Asked about Republicans potentially reversing course, Blumenthal said: “I’m not going to speculate on what may happen. I think at the end of the day, [Republicans] will be bound to respect the overwhelming opinion of the American public that the Chinese shouldn’t be allowed to spy on Americans through TikTok.”
Several Republicans told us they still support divestment. The new law was appropriate, so “I would want” to understand Trump’s “reasoning for trying to reverse it,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.
“I would think that we would let the court play out,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
“If we still have [Chinese] ownership issues ... the result for me is the same,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who supported divestment. “If we’ve got new information, I’m willing to look at it.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted against the House version of the bill. He told us Trump’s recent TikTok advocacy will “probably” have other Republicans rethinking their position.