Given how it's less than 100 days to the US election and Donald Trump is trailing in just about every poll to Joe Biden, it's beginning to look like this is the final days of the Trump presidency.
Like all beleaguered leaders hiding out in their bunker and waiting for the end, Trump is growing more and more desperate for solutions to his problems - and now he's taking on an app that teenagers use to lipsync to their favourite songs and make sketches on.
ABOARD AF1 - Potus says he plans to terminate the social media platform Tik-Tok in the US using presidential authority.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 1, 2020
“As far as TikTok is concerned we’re banning them from the United States,” said @POTUS.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 1, 2020
Per press pool reports from last night on Air Force One, Donald Trump is planning to ban the app TikTok in the US as soon as today, if he's able. The app was, in part, responsible for the disastrous audience numbers at his first rally since lockdown began in the US.
Using TikTok and a number of other social media apps such as Snapchat, teenagers block-booked tickets for his rally, artificially inflating the numbers and eventually leaving the stadium half-empty by the time Trump took to the stage. Users would post instructions on how to block-book tickets, then delete the video after an hour to ensure their plans couldn't be traced. When the rally began, the campaign revealed itself as entirely successful.
Since then, TikTok has become a flashpoint for the US far-right, what with it being created in China and with the rumours floating that Microsoft intends to buy up the US operations of the app. Yet, the campaign which derailed Trump's campaign rally and caused him such embarrassment was generated from TikTok users, which is primarily young people, and not TikTok themselves.
TikTok has not yet commented on Trump's plans, and as of writing, the app is still available in the US.
