Morristown TikTok fans say Trump ban will hurt him in November

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By Emily Sebiri

Local users of TikTok are not happy with the Trump administration’s plans to shutter the social media platform.

“Trump’s imprudent decision to focus his energy on banning a social media app rather than defeating the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic in America is deplorable,” said Morristown resident Emma Wong, a junior at the University of Georgia.

“I think this error does not go unnoticed to the millions of soon-to-be first-time voters that use TikTok,” Wong said.

President Donald Trump, pictured in February 2017. Photo by Olivier Douliery – Pool/Getty Images.

President Trump has vowed to ban U.S. transactions with TikTok on Sept. 20, 2020, if its owner, the Chinese company ByteDance, cannot strike a deal with a company in the United States. Microsoft has expressed interest in acquiring TikTok.

Trump announced similar sanctions another against Chinese app, WeChat.

The spread of apps controlled by China “continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security,” states the executive order Trump signed last week.

TikTok has indicated it intends to sue the administration. The app has been downloaded hundreds of millions of times since its release in 2017. Teens and 20-somethings share video clips on the platform.

“I believe that Trump has bigger issues, like the pandemic going on,” said Rutgers sophomore Elizabeth Van Roosendaal,  of Morristown.

She contended Trump was more concerned with the app’s potential to disrupt his re-election than with Chinese collection of data.

Van Roosendaal referred to Trump’s embarrassing Tulsa campaign rally in June. Millennials on TikTok reserved tickets with no intention of attending. Trump predicted a huge crowd–but wound up addressing thousands of empty seats.

“I think trump is just banning TikTok out of spite because people ruined his rally, which is very concerning because people in our country are dying every day from this ongoing pandemic,” said Morristown resident Amir Howard, a sophomore at the County College of Morris.

“It shows us what type of person he is, and, in my opinion, makes us more likely to vote in November than ever before.”

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