TikTok’s MAGA Overlords Return to Their Conquered Territory

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance returned to TikTok on Monday after not posting on the video platform for almost a yr. And it appears like a victory lap by people who find themselves about to see their allies flip the platform right into a secure area for Trump supporters.

“To all of these younger folks of TikTok, I saved TikTok, so that you owe me massive,” Trump said. “And now, you’re me within the Oval Workplace, and sometime one in all you might be gonna be sitting proper at this desk, and also you’re gonna be doing an important job additionally.”

It’s a bizarre video, clearly, but it surely speaks to one thing President Trump has been saying ever since he pulled a 180 on whether or not TikTok must be banned. Trump initially tried to ban TikTok on nationwide safety grounds with an government order in 2020. He argued that TikTok’s China-based possession, ByteDance, posed a menace to the U.S. as a result of it collected information on American customers and manipulated the algorithm in methods opposite to U.S. pursuits.

However Trump flipped his place in March 2024, in the course of the lead-up to the presidential election, insisting that it was a superb platform for him, full of younger individuals who assist him. The laws handed by Congress, and signed into legislation by President Joe Biden, that was speculated to drive Chinese language possession to divest from the platform or be banned within the U.S. fully, hasn’t been enforced. Trump has now delayed the ban 4 instances.

JD will get racist once more

Vice President JD Vance additionally returned to TikTok with a brand new video on Monday explaining how he was “relaunching” his web page. Vance has an identical swagger, making an attempt to make jokes and are available off as relatable regardless of the horrific atrocities the Trump regime has been committing, from unlawful strikes towards folks in Venezuela to the invasion of U.S. cities with secret police.

“I acquired a bit lazy the previous few months, was targeted on the job of being VP, not sufficient on TikToks, that’s about to alter,” Vance mentioned within the video. “So observe alongside, we’ll replace you on what’s happening within the White Home, enterprise of state, we’ll replace you on what’s happening politically, perhaps some sombrero memes right here and there, however observe alongside and we’ll look ahead to connecting on TikTok.”

Vance’s final TikTok video earlier than Monday was from Nov. 4, 2024, the day earlier than the 2024 presidential election. The reference to sombreros is the racist meme that he and Trump have been spreading, exhibiting Democrats within the hats as a result of they falsely declare that individuals like Hakeem Jeffries are attempting to get well being look after undocumented immigrants throughout shutdown negotiations.

Who’s shopping for TikTok?

Trump’s allies, together with Larry Ellison’s Oracle, personal fairness agency Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz, are reporting working to finalize a deal to purchase a big stake in TikTok, which can or could not adhere to the 2024 legislation.

Ellison’s son, David Ellison, runs Paramount, which made some vital modifications to its lineup to curry favor with Trump in the course of the lead-up to its merger with Skydance. The corporate paid out a $16 million settlement to Trump as a part of a nuisance lawsuit towards CBS Information and 60 Minutes, one thing that late-night host Stephen Colbert characterised as a “bribe” earlier than his present was cancelled on the behest of Trump.

A veteran 60 Minutes producer even quit, suggesting he not had the power to work freely with out interference from administration. And CBS Information introduced it was shopping for the right-wing opinion outlet The Free Press on Monday, bringing Bari Weiss on to supervise all of CBS Information. In the event you’re not aware of Weiss, a quote from her just lately featured within the New York Times would possibly greatest categorical the place she’s coming from.

“I do know that there are some folks on this room who don’t consider that my marriage ought to have been authorized,” Weiss informed the conservative Federalist Society in 2023, referring to the truth that she has a spouse. “And that’s OK. As a result of we’re all People who need decrease taxes.”

The Murdochs, the folks now we have to thank for Fox Information, are additionally concerned within the TikTok deal, in keeping with Trump. All of that is to say that there’s a seismic shift occurring proper now in who controls the most important media platforms within the nation, from conventional areas like CBS to digital areas like TikTok.

The place’s the precise deal?

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent first introduced a framework for a deal had been reached on Sept. 15, and Trump has repeatedly tried to recommend it’s completed. And whereas there was loads of reporting about what it would appear to be, there’s no definitive deal but, so far as anybody can inform.

All the uncertainty concerning the impending sale has led to folks questioning what TikTok will appear to be within the coming months and years. Oracle was based as a CIA project, in spite of everything, and Ellison has not been shy about discussing expertise as a strategy to control the population.

Trump himself has additionally acknowledged that he’d wish to make TikTok a spot for MAGA concepts solely.

“If I may, I’d make it 100% MAGA-related,” Trump mentioned to laughter within the Oval Workplace on Sept. 25. “It’s truly a superb query, however I might… If I may make it 100% MAGA, I might. But it surely’s not going to work out that means, sadly.”

Many TikTok customers have additionally observed a dramatic shift within the type of content material they’ve been served on the platform over the previous two weeks, skewing extra in direction of conservative content material, and anecdotally, Gizmodo can report the identical factor. Whereas movies of far-right figures like Nick Fuentes have been principally extraordinary, I’ve now seen two movies of the white supremacist just lately.

It actually does look like TikTok’s algorithm is about to alter dramatically, much more than we’ve seen up to now. And it’s sure to turn into a secure area for Trump and his buddies, with these right-wing goons principally declaring victory over their conquered territory.