Political commentator, media expert, and former MSNBC star Mehdi Hasan says the TikTok ban/sale currently under consideration in Washington could have a dire effect on the Democratic Party’s ability to combat false narratives and disinformation aimed at it by the far right.
Hasan is doubly mystified that such a big win for MAGA could happen during an election year, while both the White House and the Senate are controlled by the Democrats.
The criticism echoes head-scratching by Democrats about Attorney General Merrick Garland‘s desultory stewardship of the Department of Justice, which delayed prosecutions of former President Donald Trump for alleged insurrection and other crimes, and subjected President Biden to investigation by the Trump-nominated Republican special counsel Robert Hur — in a self-defeating attempt to service the optics of fairness and equal justice.
Biden has said he will sign the TikTok forced divestiture plan if the Senate passes the House legislation, and Hasan is perplexed that Democrats would simply surrender one of the three most powerful messaging platforms in the world to MAGA forces — with another already in the hands of Elon Musk, no friend of Biden or the Dems.
To be clear, if Mnuchin gets TikTok, and Musk has Twitter, that’s two of the most influential messaging platforms on the planet in the hands of MAGA and their allies, in an election year, and with both purchases done on a Democratic White House and Senate’s watch https://t.co/TabKQrK4gk
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 14, 2024
Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been pitching a move to put together a group American investors to take TikTok off the hands of its Chinese owner ByteDance, if the U.S. forces its sale.
Hasan writes: “To be clear, if Mnuchin gets TikTok and Musk has Twitter, that’s two of the most influential messaging platforms on the planet in the hands of MAGA and their allies, in an election year, and with both purchases done on a Democratic White House and Senate’s watch.”
Democrats have what’s coming to them, Hasan implies, if they let Mnuchin’s group take over TikTok before the election.