Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul slammed Fox News over a discussion about the recently passed legislation to ban Chinese social media app TikTok.
As we reported on Wednesday, the new bill passed the House of Representatives, which would force ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest from and sell the app.
The legislation, dubbed “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” was approved by a 352-65 vote.
U.S. House PASSES bill forcing on requiring TikTok to divest from China or face U.S. ban, 352-65. pic.twitter.com/K8NrCw50ti
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 13, 2024
Fox News’ Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade told Paul that ByteDance is owned by the Chinese government, to which he responded, “No, it’s not, see, that’s a lie.”
“You’re defaming the company,” Paul said.
“Sixty percent of it is owned by international investors, 20 percent is owned by the software developers who are Chinese and 20 percent is owned by the employees, 7,000 of whom are Americans.”
Kilmeade continued to argue that ByteDance is owned by the Chinese government, to which the Paul disputed this remark again, saying: “No they don’t, see you just told a lie Brian.”
Watch
As reported last week, Joe Biden said he would happily sign the legislation into law if it reached his desk.
While boarding Air Force One en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Biden said of the bill, “If they pass it, I’ll sign it.”
Watch
President Biden answers numerous questions from the media, including on debating former President Trump, the State of the Union and the Middle East and…
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 8, 2024
Q: "Do you still support banning TikTok. Will you sign that bill?"
President Biden: "If they pass it, I'll sign it." pic.twitter.com/rLSdLvw8pM
A press release from the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said:
The “bill prevents app store availability or web hosting services in the U.S. for ByteDance-controlled applications, including TikTok, unless the application severs ties to entities like ByteDance that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary, as defined by Congress in Title 10.”
The legislation says the app will face a clampdown unless ByteDance sells TikTok within 180 days of the bill being enacted.
READ: Rand Paul: McConnell Working to Funnel Money to Ukraine
