A TikTok tiff pit commentator against congressman amid concerns that a recent vote could “give Joe Biden the power shut down news sites that dare challenge him.”
In the battle over ByteDance, the Chinese Communist Party-tied parent company of TikTok, House lawmakers advanced a bill this week marketed as a prohibition of foreign adversary-controlled applications. However, amid ever-present concerns of government overreach and a war on information, Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s (R) blasé dismissal of censorship fears stoked spite from Tucker Carlson.
Taking to X to lambaste the legislator he’d referred to as “eye-patch McCain,” Carlson shared a video of Crenshaw outside the U.S. Capitol responding to questions from the press with the caption, “This is Rep. Dan Crenshaw as he walks out of the Capitol after voting to give Joe Biden the power to shut down news sites that dare to challenge him. Crenshaw tells reporter Liam Cosgrove that U.S. intel agencies don’t meddle in domestic news coverage, when of course he knows that’s untrue. Watch his face as he says it. Liar.”
Not long after, the Texas congressman rebutted, “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 [of] Americans and using TikTok to push their propaganda. 90% of conservatives in the House voted for this bill.”
“None of this is surprising,” he added, “since Tucker never misses an opportunity to defend America’s enemies, and of course garner some clickbait on his Chinese TikTok account.”
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
During the exchange between Crenshaw and Liam Cosgrove, the lawmaker could be heard saying, “With data and access to your app that you’re addicted to, you can vastly manipulate an entire population, which the Chinese have done.”
“Are you worried that our intelligence agencies are doing the same thing, domestically?” asked the reporter.
“Am I worried that — well, I know that they’re not,” replied Crenshaw as Cosgrove pressed, “They’re not manipulating Americans?”
“Do you have some evidence otherwise that you’d like to share? Okay,” he waved his hand dismissively. “Any serious questions?”
The congressman was later confronted with a reminder about the intelligence officials who had peddled claims associating Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop with Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election leading Crenshaw to deflect, “No because they were retired. There’s no program. This is nothing even close to what TikTok does.”
Wednesday, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie was one of 15 Republicans and 50 Democrats who voted Nay during the roll call vote to advance the bill to the Senate after he had slammed the legislation.
“The so-called TikTok ban is a trojan horse,” he’d said on X. “The President will be given the power to ban WEB SITES, not just Apps. The person breaking the new law is deemed to be the U.S. (or offshore) INTERNET HOSTING SERVICE or App Store, not the ‘foreign adversary.'”
That didn’t stop Crenshaw from accusing Carlson of alluding to a bribe-induced change of heart as he shared a clip of the commentator when he was still a host on Fox News where he spoke positively of banning TikTok over data concerns.
“How much Chinese money does it take to do a complete 180 like this?” asked the congressman.
How much Chinese money does it take to do a complete 180 like this?#TikTokTucker https://t.co/W60fQVaukF
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 15, 2024
Like Massie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) had voiced his concern about the legislation in a recent edition of “Tucker Carlson Uncensored” and said in part, “My concern has always been with the centralization of power — with giving up power. I don’t care whether it’s a Republican or a Democrat president. I don’t want any president to have the power to ban apps that are sold on an app store. And that’s essentially what’s going to happen.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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