Daniel Hampton
December 27, 2024
RAW STORY
TikTok's logo. (Shutterstock)
A Michigan Democrat took a shot at supporters of TikTok as President-elect Donald Trump tries to block a looming ban set to take effect next month.
Trump on Friday asked the Supreme Court to hit the brakes on a law that could ban the popular social media site nationwide starting Jan. 19 if its owner, who is Chinese, doesn’t sell it to an American company.
Rep. Debbie Dingell on Friday evening called the issue "difficult" — but said lawmakers in both chambers passed the bill for the good of the country.
"This was a very difficult decision for me, Wolf," said Dingell on "The Situation Room" with host Wolf Blitzer. "It is national security versus the millions and millions of users that we have in this country. But the fact of the matter is, is that a significant majority in both the House and the Senate, in a very bipartisan way, voted for this because of the reasons that we got."
Dingell acknowledged that while young people — who are largely the main users of the app — voted for Trump, she and her colleagues have a "responsibility" to protect national security.
"They also don't understand how much of their information is being tracked, how it will be used in the future, etc. The Supreme Court needs to make its findings on a Constitutional basis. The president has the right to express his opinion. And I hope the Supreme Court makes its findings based on the law that was passed and the Constitution."
Dingell also weighed in on a massive split in MAGA land over H1B visas, and pointed out Republicans — much like her party — are finding immigration reform a "difficult issue.
"While Musk is concerned about Silicon Valley and technology, we have a lot of farmers, we have a lot of small businesses that also are looking at these kinds of issues," she said.
Dingell called for ensuring the government is investing in American workers, including training them.
"We need engineers in this country, we need those skilled trades," she said.
The recent schism further shows "there's a reason" comprehensive immigration reform has been so tough for both parties, she said.
Dingell also called on her party to improve how it talks to workers about issues that matter to them, including the cost of eggs.
"We as Democrats do a lousy job at times just talking to the working men and women of this country," she said.
She added: "We did a bad job of that" — and while Trump didn't, he faces a steep challenge in addressing those problems.
TikTok's logo. (Shutterstock)
A Michigan Democrat took a shot at supporters of TikTok as President-elect Donald Trump tries to block a looming ban set to take effect next month.
Trump on Friday asked the Supreme Court to hit the brakes on a law that could ban the popular social media site nationwide starting Jan. 19 if its owner, who is Chinese, doesn’t sell it to an American company.
Rep. Debbie Dingell on Friday evening called the issue "difficult" — but said lawmakers in both chambers passed the bill for the good of the country.
"This was a very difficult decision for me, Wolf," said Dingell on "The Situation Room" with host Wolf Blitzer. "It is national security versus the millions and millions of users that we have in this country. But the fact of the matter is, is that a significant majority in both the House and the Senate, in a very bipartisan way, voted for this because of the reasons that we got."
Dingell acknowledged that while young people — who are largely the main users of the app — voted for Trump, she and her colleagues have a "responsibility" to protect national security.
"They also don't understand how much of their information is being tracked, how it will be used in the future, etc. The Supreme Court needs to make its findings on a Constitutional basis. The president has the right to express his opinion. And I hope the Supreme Court makes its findings based on the law that was passed and the Constitution."
Dingell also weighed in on a massive split in MAGA land over H1B visas, and pointed out Republicans — much like her party — are finding immigration reform a "difficult issue.
"While Musk is concerned about Silicon Valley and technology, we have a lot of farmers, we have a lot of small businesses that also are looking at these kinds of issues," she said.
Dingell called for ensuring the government is investing in American workers, including training them.
"We need engineers in this country, we need those skilled trades," she said.
The recent schism further shows "there's a reason" comprehensive immigration reform has been so tough for both parties, she said.
Dingell also called on her party to improve how it talks to workers about issues that matter to them, including the cost of eggs.
"We as Democrats do a lousy job at times just talking to the working men and women of this country," she said.
She added: "We did a bad job of that" — and while Trump didn't, he faces a steep challenge in addressing those problems.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
Trump asks US Supreme Court to pause law threatening TikTok ban
By AFP
December 27, 2024
Trump was fiercely opposed to TikTok during his 2017-21 first term, but has since changed his tune - Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon
US President-elect Donald Trump filed a brief Friday urging the Supreme Court to pause a law that would ban TikTok the day before his January 20 inauguration if it is not sold by its Chinese owner ByteDance.
“In light of the novelty and difficulty of this case, the court should consider staying the statutory deadline to grant more breathing space to address these issues,” Trump’s legal team wrote, to give him “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution.”
Trump was fiercely opposed to TikTok during his 2017-21 first term, and tried in vain to ban the video app on national security grounds.
The Republican voiced concerns — echoed by political rivals — that the Chinese government might tap into US TikTok users’ data or manipulate what they see on the platform.
US officials had also voiced alarm over the popularity of the video-sharing app with young people, alleging that its parent company is subservient to Beijing and that the app is used to spread propaganda, claims denied by the company and the Chinese government.
Trump called for a US company to buy TikTok, with the government sharing in the sale price, and his successor Joe Biden went one stage further — signing a law to ban the app for the same reasons.
Trump has now, however, reversed course.
“Now (that) I’m thinking about it, I’m for TikTok, because you need competition,” he recently told Bloomberg.
“If you don’t have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram — and that’s, you know, that’s Zuckerberg.”
Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and part of his Meta tech empire, was among the social media networks that banned Trump after attacks by his supporters on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The ban was driven by concerns that he would use the platform to promote more violence.
Those bans on major social media platforms were later lifted.
In the brief filed on Friday, Trump’s lawyer made it clear the president-elect did not take a position on the legal merits of the current case.
“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,” John Sauer wrote in the amicus curiae — or “friend of the court” — brief.
“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.”
By AFP
December 27, 2024
Trump was fiercely opposed to TikTok during his 2017-21 first term, but has since changed his tune - Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon
US President-elect Donald Trump filed a brief Friday urging the Supreme Court to pause a law that would ban TikTok the day before his January 20 inauguration if it is not sold by its Chinese owner ByteDance.
“In light of the novelty and difficulty of this case, the court should consider staying the statutory deadline to grant more breathing space to address these issues,” Trump’s legal team wrote, to give him “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution.”
Trump was fiercely opposed to TikTok during his 2017-21 first term, and tried in vain to ban the video app on national security grounds.
The Republican voiced concerns — echoed by political rivals — that the Chinese government might tap into US TikTok users’ data or manipulate what they see on the platform.
US officials had also voiced alarm over the popularity of the video-sharing app with young people, alleging that its parent company is subservient to Beijing and that the app is used to spread propaganda, claims denied by the company and the Chinese government.
Trump called for a US company to buy TikTok, with the government sharing in the sale price, and his successor Joe Biden went one stage further — signing a law to ban the app for the same reasons.
Trump has now, however, reversed course.
“Now (that) I’m thinking about it, I’m for TikTok, because you need competition,” he recently told Bloomberg.
“If you don’t have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram — and that’s, you know, that’s Zuckerberg.”
Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and part of his Meta tech empire, was among the social media networks that banned Trump after attacks by his supporters on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The ban was driven by concerns that he would use the platform to promote more violence.
Those bans on major social media platforms were later lifted.
In the brief filed on Friday, Trump’s lawyer made it clear the president-elect did not take a position on the legal merits of the current case.
“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,” John Sauer wrote in the amicus curiae — or “friend of the court” — brief.
“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.”
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