Support truly
independent journalism
Several politicians have joined TikTok in recent weeks as a ban on the popular video app looms.
Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Pete Buttigieg, JD Vance and Donald Trump have all joined TikTok as the race ramps up and campaign strategists scramble to influence young voters. But their accounts come amid a contentious legal battle between the US Department of Justice and TikTok over a potential ban on the social media app.
Transportation Secretary Buttigieg joined the platform earlier this week, joking in his first post that viewers might recognize him from Fox News.
That came after Walz joined the app last week, quickly amassing more than 1 million followers. Vance, meanwhile, joined TikTok earlier this month and has since gained over 450,000 followers.
Trump jumped on the TikTok bandwagon months ago, however, joining in June and amassing millions of followers. Trump has flipped on his support for a ban, initially pushing for one during his presidency before speaking out against the legislation earlier this year.
“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” Trump said in March, referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
In April, Biden signed a bill that forces the Chinese company ByteDance to either sell their app or be banned from US app stores within a year — meaning the app will stick around through the election.
TikTok has since sued the US, arguing the bill unfairly singles it out and violates the First Amendment.
“Never before has Congress expressly singled out and shut down a specific speech forum,” TikTok’s attorneys wrote in June. “Never before has Congress silenced so much speech in a single act.”
The Justice Department responded in late July, asking the court to uphold the legislation and arguing the bill pertains to national security rather than the right to free speech.
“The United States has long been concerned that the Chinese government could use its robust authority to take control of these data and thus obtain ‘access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information,’ which China may stockpile and strategically deploy to undermine the United States’ security,” the Justice Department replied.
Major presidential contenders aren’t the only ones joining TikTok despite the controvesy.
Several lawmakers supported the ban while still using TikTok, including Democratic Representative Jeff Jackson of North Carolina and Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, CNN reports.
Meanwhile, Harris has made her position on the app clear.
“As the VP has said before, we don’t want to ban TikTok,” a spokesperson for Harris told NBC News. “We would just like to see a change in ownership.”
The Independent has contacted Buttigieg, the Harris-Walz campaign and the Trump-Vance campaign for comment.
