Mitch McConnel is tackling America’s biggest national security threat — TikTok. In a Senate speech Monday, McConnell implored his fellow senators to pass the bill requiring the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face the app being banned from app stores within the United States. Passed by the House on March 13, the bill — officially known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — has stalled in the Senate.
“America’s greatest strategic rival is threatening our security right here on US soil… in tens of millions of American homes.,” McConnell declared from the Senate floor. “I’m speaking, of course, about TikTok. McConnell went on to describe China’s ties to the social media company and trends, like the glorification of Hamas terrorists and Osama bin Laden’s wisdom, which have arisen on the platform.
Cockburn can’t help but think the TikTok debate straddles a generational divide for McConnell. It’s been almost two years since Mitch last posted on Instagram, the most hip platform he has dabbled with. Even then, his account is mostly screenshots of his tweets and awkward photos posing with constituents, lawmakers and even Volodymyr Zelensky.
At TikTok’s urging, Congress has been flooded with calls from angsty teens begging that the bill not proceed. Some have threatened to kill themselves, and last month, Senator Thom Tillis received a death threat if he voted in favor of the bill. Cocaine Mitch, however, is unfazed by the hordes of teens. “No matter how loudly TikTok’s apologists claim that reining in PRC influence violates the First Amendment, the question we’ll face is about conduct, not content,” he said.
After passing in the House by an overwhelming majority, 352-65, the Senate has yet to bring the bill to a vote. On Friday, Schumer announced senators can make progress “on a path forward on TikTok legislation,” although he did not outline a position on the bill. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said on Monday she will be meeting with Schumer and Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner to discuss “a game plan.” Last month, Biden said he would sign proposed legislation to ban TikTok if Congress passed it, despite owning an account.
“This is a matter that deserves Congress’s urgent attention,” McConnell said. “And I’ll support commonsense, bipartisan steps to take one of Beijing’s favorite tools of coercion and espionage off the table.”
