Will the GOP Become The American Judas?

I was on NewsNation yesterday afternoon talking about American national security and, in particular, the looming legislation to force the Chinese Communist Party to give up control of TikTok. The legislation does not shut down TikTok, though the Chinese insist they’d rather shut down TikTok than give up control.

Just for perspective consider ByteDance and its investors would make billions through this legislation — a required sale. But China would rather kill the app than earn billions by giving up its ability to spy on Americans through it and feeding American children disinformation.

It is also very notable that TikTok is doing its PR through Global Times, the propaganda mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party.

Now, led by Donald Trump, some Republicans are going wobbly on the issue.

First, I need to note Jeff Yass, a billionaire donor to Republican causes, including Club for Growth, is vehemently opposed to the legislation. He is an investor in TikTok. It is no coincidence that Club for Growth, an organization I generally support, is coming out against the legislation. The Club has hired my friend Kellyanne Conway to push members of Congress against the legislation if reports are to believed (or who care. Members of Congress are saying this, not just reports).

This is rather swampy behavior — the party that claims to have beaten the swamp becomes a creature of the swamp when a billionaire starts throwing his money around.

It is also deeply ironic in that both Donald Trump and Kellyanne Conway were some of the original proponents of forcing ByteDance out of TikTok due to national security concerns.

Second, Donald Trump continues to nurse a grievance against Meta, Facebook, and Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that Zuckerberg helped steal the 2020 election. Some friends speculate that Trump is using this as leverage against Zuckerberg, except the legislation actually does not require TikTok to shutdown. It could continue as a going concern and platform under the legislation if ByteDance, its parent company controlled by the Chinese communists, gives up control. It’s hard to see any leverage that could be gained from Zuckerberg by repatriating a company into American competitors’ hands.

The most likely issues here are that both a billionaire investor is throwing money around to persuade Republicans and Trump is in revenge mode. The latter just takes Trump at his own word that his second term would be about getting revenge against those who did him wrong.

Unfortunately, switching a key position for money and/or for grievance fundamentally undermines our national security. The various wings of the intelligence community have ample, credible evidence that China is using TikTok against the United States both to spread disinformation and to spy on Americans.

TikTok is a credible threat to our children and our national security. Republicans willing to side with the Chinese Communist Party for cash or grievance against an American corporation is a terrible, dangerous sign and very disqualifying.

China, not climate change, is the greatest threat to this nation. Giving China access to our children so readily with a weaponized surveillance app is something Congress should stop. Republicans should support the legislation and force ByteDance out of TikTok instead of taking 30 pieces of silver. Doing otherwise puts the GOP on the side of the CCP and betrays the United States.

By the way, this is not about the First Amendment and free speech. The legislation only requires the CCP divest control of TikTok. It does nothing to censor TikTok or its users. Anyone saying this is a free speech issue is either ignorant or paid for.