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Quoted By: >>1277197
Trump waffles on TikTok ban, says doing so would ‘make Facebook bigger’
By Amy B Wang
March 11, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/11/trump-tiktok-ban/
Former president Donald Trump said Monday that he agrees that Chinese-owned TikTok is a national security risk but again indicated he no longer supports banning it in the United States because, he said, doing so would lead to increased support for Facebook, which he lambasted as “an enemy of the people.”
In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, Trump claimed that he had nearly banned TikTok when he was president — “I was at the point I could have gotten it done if I wanted to” — but left it up to Congress, which ultimately did not pass a bill to do so.
“Frankly, a lot of people are on TikTok that love it. Young kids on TikTok would go crazy without it. A lot of users,” Trump said, acknowledging the popularity of the social media app. “There’s, you know, a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok, but the thing I don’t like is that, without TikTok you can make Facebook bigger. I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media.”
Asked whether he still considered TikTok a national security threat, Trump said he did, but again pointed a finger at Facebook and other unnamed American companies that he said were also security risks.
By Amy B Wang
March 11, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/11/trump-tiktok-ban/
Former president Donald Trump said Monday that he agrees that Chinese-owned TikTok is a national security risk but again indicated he no longer supports banning it in the United States because, he said, doing so would lead to increased support for Facebook, which he lambasted as “an enemy of the people.”
In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, Trump claimed that he had nearly banned TikTok when he was president — “I was at the point I could have gotten it done if I wanted to” — but left it up to Congress, which ultimately did not pass a bill to do so.
“Frankly, a lot of people are on TikTok that love it. Young kids on TikTok would go crazy without it. A lot of users,” Trump said, acknowledging the popularity of the social media app. “There’s, you know, a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok, but the thing I don’t like is that, without TikTok you can make Facebook bigger. I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media.”
Asked whether he still considered TikTok a national security threat, Trump said he did, but again pointed a finger at Facebook and other unnamed American companies that he said were also security risks.
