Shock waves rolled through conservative circles with the revelation that former senior Trump administration aide Kellyanne Conway is actively lobbying on Capitol Hill on behalf of Communist China’s controversial TikTok app.
The conservative Club for Growth put Conway on its payroll to win legislative hearts and minds over to the advantages of TikTok. Never mind that the platform sweeps up massive troves of U.S. user data and what it gathers is readily available to Beijing’s communists.
This news came as Congress advanced toward passing legislation that would force the app’s Chinese parent company to sell TikTok or face a sweeping ban.
Conway, a fixture in conservative media, told Politico that the push to ban TikTok is “ill-advised” and “draconian.”
She added that lawmakers who want to hold Beijing accountable should focus on the start of the COVID pandemic, Chinese suppliers of fentanyl precursor chemicals, communist persecution of Uyghurs and the threat to Taiwan.
SCOOP: Kellyanne Conway, the former senior Trump aide, is being paid by the Club for Growth to advocate for TikTok in Congress and has had at least 10 meetings with lawmakers in recent months about the app, three people familiar with the meetings told me. https://t.co/ECMAv55ycy
— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) March 9, 2024
None of these issues, however, should push aside national security concerns over the invasive app. Its parent company, ByteDance, is required by Chinese law to hand over intelligence information upon request, and it holds data on tens of millions of Americans.
Despite surprising rumblings from some Republicans in defense of TikTok, the push to ban the Chinese app is from both sides of the political aisle.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) is the chair and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced the current legislation seeking the forced divestiture of the app from its parent company.
The bill demands the split between TikTok and ByteDance occur within six months. If that does not happen, the pair called for the app to be banned on American app stores and websites.
In a statement, Gallagher noted the obvious irony of having a Chinese controlled platform holding such a prominent position in the U.S. “America’s foremost adversary has no business controlling a dominant media platform in the United States.”
Krishnamoorthi concurred. In a statement, the Democrat observed that as long as TikTok is owned by ByteDance, there is a requirement that it submit to the Chinese Communist Party.
He called the platform’s prevalence a national security threat.
