Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump expressed support for TikTok amid potential bans if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not divest its US assets.
In a Bloomberg BusinessWeek interview, Trump emphasised the need for competition, contrasting TikTok with Facebook and Instagram. Despite previously labelling TikTok a threat, Trump joined the platform recently.
Trump, who faced a two-year suspension from Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, reiterated his opposition to banning TikTok.
Although TikTok declined to comment, Trump had attempted to ban TikTok and WeChat during his presidency, but courts blocked these efforts. President Joe Biden later revoked the related executive orders in June 2021.