There are many things that have been called racist in recent years. And just when you think everything is being labeled that way, someone finds something else to label as racist. This week, I discovered that coffee is considered racist if you are white. Is that not amazing?
It didn’t take too long before something else was called racist.
Rep. Jamaal (D-N.Y.) says that supporting TikTok’s ban is racist.
Capitol Hill was visited by TikTok influencers this week to support the controversial app. Members of both the parties and the military acknowledged that it poses a security threat because of its connections with the Chinese Communist Party.
President Trump’s August 2020 executive order banned TikTok. The Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, as well as the U.S. Armed Forces, had already prohibited the app from federal government phones.
Trump issued an order stating that TikTok had collected user data including search history and location. Virginia Democrat Sen. Mark Warner even acknowledged that Trump was correct about the risks. Warner claimed that China’s potential to exert undue influence over multiple countries through technology dominance is a greater threat than armed conflict.
But that doesn’t seem to matter to Rep. Bowman.
“Why all the panic and hysteria surrounding TikTok?” Bowman spoke outside the Capitol, flanked by TikTok creators.
Bowman bizarrely claimed that TikTok poses an equal risk to Americans as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter—all of which are Americans-owned platforms not linked to an enemy nation.
“So, let’s not marginalize and target TikTok,” Bowman said. “Let’s not have a dishonest conversation. Let’s not be racist towards China and express our xenophobia when it comes to TikTok because American companies have done tremendous harm to American people.”
Bowman claimed that TikTok’s ban would have a negative impact on its users, hurt businesses using it for marketing purposes, and create a First Amendment conflict. But, I believe his motivation to defend the app is political, much like the Biden administration’s position on the controversial platform. Gina Raimondo (Biden’s Commerce Secretary), acknowledged earlier this month, that if TikTok were banned by the Biden administration, it would be a political disaster for Democrats because they’d lose support from voters aged 35 and under.
Bowman’s disregard for national security concerns related to TikTok, and his labeling of a possible ban as “racist”, is a calculated political decision. It tells us that he doesn’t care about national security if it means maintaining power for the Democrats.
