Tipsheet

Squad Member on Bipartisan Effort to Ban TikTok: 'Republicans Ain't Got No Swag'

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  March 27, 2023 2:15 PM

It's not often that Congress these days finds bipartisan causes to come together on, which is in part why the efforts to ban TikTok are such a big deal. Bipartisan does not mean unanimous, however. Of all the members to decry efforts to take action against the dangerous social media app beholden to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), it's no surprise that a Squad member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), is at the helm.

Bowman appeared on MSNBC's "PoliticsNation," where he spoke to Reverend Al Sharpton and lambasted Republicans. "Republicans cannot govern on the issues," he claimed, "so they often use fear mongering tactics to display themselves as being strong lawmakers." The Squad member used examples of the debt limit, crime, and what to do about China to claim "this is how they govern."

The congressman himself acknowledged that the effort to ban TikTok is bipartisan, but did so by expressing how he is "disappointed that some Democratic lawmakers are responding to them and acquiescing to this rhetoric," arguing "we need to take a step back." He argued that the harm on other social media platforms, "are far worse than what TikTok has presented," as he went on to rail against the 2016 elections, claiming Facebook "looked the other way" when it comes to leftist talking points that "Russia was colluding with Trump and looked the other way" and "did nothing."

He also appeared on "The Mehdi Hassan Show," on the same network, where host Mehdi Hassan said he agreed with Bowman's claims that efforts to ban TikTok were based in "racism," but still questioned the congressman as to if it was legitimate to point to real security concerns. 

While Bowman did agree "both concerns can be true," he went on to raise concerns with other social media platforms when it comes to federal legislation and similarly harped on Facebook and 2016 election narratives. "It's just absurd to have one conversation and not the other," he offered. 

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The congressman had made news for even more absurd and hyper-partisan remarks about his opposition to banning TikTok. Again, the move to do so is a bipartisan effort. You wouldn't know that from the rally that Bowman spoke at last week, though.

During Wednesday's "Keep TikTok" rally, the Squad member claimed, as something he "just realized," that "Republicans ain't got no swag," which is "why they want to ban TikTok." To laughter and murmurs of agreement from others at the rally, Bowman doubled down, adding "Republicans ain't got no swag, that's the problem." 

The congressman went on to explain he was mentioning that "in the context of engaging young people in the democratic process."

Bowman, as highlighted by The New York Post, also turned to a lazy leftist talking point during the rally, which was to claim that efforts to ban TikTok were a matter of race. He urged people to "not be racist towards China and express our xenophobia when it comes to TikTok." As he did during his Sunday show appearances, Bowman also engaged in a show of whataboutism when it comes to other social media platforms:

“As we know, Republicans in particular, have been sounding the alarm, creating the red scare around China,” he said, before arguing that TikTok is no more of a national security threat than other Big Tech companies. 

“In terms of TikTok’s behavior and its risk to national security, it poses about the same threat that companies like Facebook and Instagram and YouTube and Twitter pose,” Bowman claimed. 

“So let’s not marginalize and target TikTok,” he pleaded. 

As an alternative to a TikTok ban, New York’s 16th District representative called for federal legislation that would secure information on social media platforms and outlaw “data brokers,” or entities that sell user data to third-parties. 

“You can ban TikTok but there are still data brokers that sell our data to other countries and businesses in other countries — they sell to the highest bidder,” Bowman argued. 

As Wired reported, TikTok paid for "influencers" to attend the rally. Spokesperson Jamal Brown confirmed to the outlet that "TikTok covered travel expenses for all creators and a guest."

It is not being "racist" or engaging in "xenophobia" to call to attention the urgent concerns involved with TikTok being beholden to the CCP. During his Thursday testimony before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce, Tok Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew had trouble answering questions from both Democrats and Republicans to do with access to data that the CCP has.

Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) also highlighted such concerns with the CCP on Thursday. They serve as the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, respectively.

Further, while concerns to do with the CCP are certainly major ones, it's tragically more involving than that. During Thursday's hearing, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) spoke about how a 16-year-old named Chase committed suicide after time spent on the app. His parents were present at the hearing, where Rep. Bilirakis emphasized to Chew that "your company destroyed their lives."

Earlier this month, lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill known as the RESTRICT Act, which POLITICO highlighted as a bill that has support from the White House. The legislation in question does not actually target TikTok, as some Republicans have raised issue with. Chief among them includes Sen. Rubio, who on Monday afternoon released a press release highlighting how his bill, the ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act, "is the only bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would actually prevent TikTok from operating in the United States." It was introduced last month by Sens. Rubio and Angus King (I-ME) as well as by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).