TikTok CEO One-Ups Zuckerberg With Bootlicking Trump Post

Grace Harrington
·1 min read
3
Shou Zi Chew
The Washington Post / The Washington Post via Getty Images

TikTok CEO Shou Chew appealed to Donald Trump’s ego in a video statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the TikTok ban.

“I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” he said. “This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.”

Trump said that he had “a warm spot” for the app during a December meeting with Chew, who was sure to mention Trump’s popularity on the app in his statement.

“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform—one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process," he said.

The statement comes shortly after it was reported that the Biden administration would leave the enforcement to the ban up to Trump.

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Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday with other tech leaders, including Elon Musk, Jess Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.

Silicon Valley has cozied up to the incoming administration. After Musk poured a half a billion dollars into Trump’s campaign, Zuckerberg announced a rollback of diversity initiatives and fact-checkers at Meta.

During his first term, Trump tried to ban TikTok, but switched his position in June. The social platform previously said it would “go dark” following the ban going into effect on Jan. 19, but it’s now unclear what the app’s future will look like.