Donald Trump Tries to Pull ‘Youth’ Voters from Joe Biden on the TikTok Ban Simmering in Congress

Donald Trump attempted to shift blame onto President Joe Biden for legislation aimed at forcing the sale of social media platform TikTok. Despite Trump's prior efforts to ban the company during his presidency, this latest legislative action targets TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., requiring divestment of its ownership stake or risking a US ban within a year. A measure included in a bipartisan $95 billion foreign aid bill, passed by the House, was introduced by House Speaker Mike Johnson. The upcoming law focuses on ByteDance Ltd., TikTok's Chinese parent company, mandating that it divest its ownership stake or potentially face a US ban within a year per Bloomberg Law.

Drawing the attention of the young population, the former President posted on Truth Social saying, "Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok. He is the one pushing it to close, and doing it to help his friends over at Facebook become richer and more dominant, and able to continue to fight, perhaps illegally, the Republican Party." Adding further to prove his point he said, "Young people, and lots of others, must remember this on November 5th, ELECTION DAY, when they vote! They also must remember, more importantly, that he is destroying our Country, and is A MAJOR THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!"

Biden had previously indicated his willingness to sign a similar bill that would have required ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months or face a ban per The Washington Post. Meanwhile, Trump has shifted his stance from 2020 when, during his presidency, he advocated for a ban on TikTok due to its connections with China. Responding to Trump's comments, the White House denied any intention to ban TikTok. White House spokeswoman Robyn Patterson stated, "We've been clear: we do not want to ban apps like TikTok."

"What we want — and what the legislation we support would do — is ensure that TikTok becomes owned by an American company so that our and our children’s sensitive personal data stays here instead of going to China and so that Americans’ understandings and views can’t be manipulated by algorithms potentially controlled by the [People’s Republic of China]," she added. Results from a recent CNBC poll revealed that 31% of registered voters are against a ban on the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok. However, when focusing on younger voters, the opposition to a ban increases significantly. Approximately 48% of those surveyed in the 18-34 age group expressed their opposition to a TikTok ban.

As Trump vies for a second term in the White House, he has targeted younger voters, with his TikTok stance being a notable part of this effort. Recent polls suggest that Biden is leading Trump among young voters, although by a smaller margin than in 2020. In the past, younger voters have typically favored the Democratic Party.