Former Fox News star Tucker Carlson today shared a video of Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) after he voted for the House bill that would ban the social media app TikTok from being used in the U.S. — if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t divest.
Carlson claims Crenshaw voted “to give Joe Biden the power to shut down news sites that dare to challenge him.” Carlson also calls Crenshaw a “liar” for telling a reporter that U.S. intelligence agencies are not manipulating Americans by meddling in domestic new coverage.
Tucker lying for attention, as usual. Maybe since he lost his production assistants at Fox News he can no longer do basic research or read short legislation. Nothing in the TikTok bill gives anyone any authority to shut down news agencies. Tucker is mad about a bill that simply… https://t.co/MycMlCWNUf
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 15, 2024
Crenshaw responded to Carlson’s claims and wrote: “Tucker lying for attention, as usual. Maybe since he lost his production assistants at Fox News he can no longer do basic research or read short legislation. Nothing in the TikTok bill gives anyone any authority to shut down news agencies. Tucker is mad about a bill that simply stops the CCP from stealing the data of tens of millions Americans and using TikTok to push their propaganda. 90% of conservatives in the House voted for this bill.”
Crenshaw added: “None of this is surprising, since Tucker never misses an opportunity to defend America’s enemies, and of course garner some clickbait on his Chinese TikTok account.” (NOTE: Carlson’s most recent highly publicized event included praising Moscow — “so much nicer than any city in my country” — and interviewing Vladimir Putin.)
“How could you say something like that?”
Easily. Just a year and a half ago, Tucker was singing an entirely different tune, calling for the government to ban TikTok. https://t.co/kmgWa4Fqc8 pic.twitter.com/qlDPXRnuLB
— Eli Steinberg (@HaMeturgeman) March 15, 2024
As seen in the clip above, which Crenshaw reposted, Carlson once claimed on Fox News that TikTok is a national security risk because it is “basically” owned by Chinese Communist Party and allegedly used to spy on Americans. Note: Carlson had Senator Marco Rubio (F-FL) as a guest to explain why the ban of TikTok is a good idea. Rubio’s stance — unlike Carlson’s — hasn’t changed.