Donald Trump Asks Supreme Court To Pause TikTok Ban, Social Media Sees The Jig
Written by djfrosty on December 29, 2024
Source: NurPhoto / Getty / Donald Trump / TikTok
TikTok is still facing a potential ban in the United States, but the popular social media platform might have found an unlikely savior in Donald Trump. Some folks can see the jig with this latest move.
In an interesting turn of events, Donald Trump, who has had a wishy-washy position on the matter, is now calling for the Supreme Court to pause the looming ban on the popular social media platform TikTok.
Trump’s take on the matter is in direct contrast to the Biden administration and some Republican, former Trump, and Democratic official’s stance that the Chinese-owned platform poses a “grave” threat to the country’s national security.
If TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell TikTok to an American company, it will be officially banned on January 19, one day before Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Per NBC News:
“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,” wrote D. John Sauer, Trump’s lawyer who is also the president-elect’s pick for U.S. solicitor general. “Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case, thus permitting President Trump’s incoming Administration the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”
The US Supreme Court decided to hear the case and fast-tracked the schedule for briefings and oral arguments, but it did not decide whether to consider TikTok’s request to pause the implementation of the ban.
Never Forget, Donald Trump Wanted TikTok Banned
Trump, who famously tried to ban TikTok in 2020 during his first failed presidency, is now claiming he can somehow negotiate a deal to “save” the platform after he met with the company’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, claiming he now has a “warm spot” for the platform.
“President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government—concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged,” Sauer notes.
While the news of TikTok’s potential saving is making some people happy, there are many who see the move as a political one.
“Donald Trump’s reversal on the TikTok ban is the most billionaire thing ever. The president-elect, himself a billionaire, changed his mind because his billionaire donor Larry Ellison asked him to. Not good for democracy!” read one post on X, formally Twitter.
Another post on X read, “Hold the fuck on. The same Donald Trump who is threatening to “take back the Panama Canal” from PANAMA because it’s being “controlled by” the Chinese, has asked the Supreme Court to pause the law which would ban TikTok here unless it’s sold, thereby allowing the app to continue to be controlled by… the Chinese? Do I have that just about right?”
We can also see the jig.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.