Former President Donald Trump has firmly pledged to protect TikTok, stating he will “never ban it.” As he continues his campaign for a second term in the White House, despite being the first criminally convicted former President of the US, Trump aims to appeal to young voters by supporting the Chinese-owned social media platform.
Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, made this bold declaration while outlining his strategy to engage younger voters. This announcement came during a discussion with Turning Point USA’s founder, Charlie Kirk, and was later shared on Trump’s TikTok profile. The 30-second video quickly amassed 1.8 million views and over 300,000 likes at the time of writing. This shift is notable as Trump had previously attempted to ban TikTok in 2020 through an executive order.
During the discussion, Kirk questioned Trump about his stance on TikTok bans. Trump responded, “I would never do it,” if re-elected, subtly criticizing President Biden in the process.
Trump emphasized his primary message: “Vote for Trump. We’re going to make our country greater than ever before,” and harshly criticized Joe Biden, calling him “the worst president in history.” He described Biden’s presidency as “incredible and just horrible.”
Kirk referred to Trump as “TikTok’s favourite president” in a caption accompanying a TikTok clip of their conversation. Currently, TikTok is under scrutiny in the US, facing potential bans unless it is acquired by a US-based company within the next year, as stipulated by recent legislation from the current administration.
Despite his legal battles, including the Hush Money Trial, Trump has quickly gained popularity on TikTok since joining less than a week ago. He has posted only one video but has already garnered over 5.8 million followers, far surpassing the 360,000 followers of Biden’s campaign account. However, TikTok is slated to be removed from app stores in the US on January 19, 2025.
Addressing the challenges of his presidency, President Joe Biden remarked, “The path to my desk was difficult. It should have been easier and it should’ve gotten there sooner… But in the end, we did what America always does, we rose to the moment.”
