Businessman Joe Lonsdale said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that giving the Chinese government access to 100 million Americans through TikTok is insane.
Asked about the Chinese Communist Party, Lonsdale said, “Frankly, I think the Chinese Communist Party is the bigger threat. So trust in the United States is obviously a big issue, and we have to give the United States confidence and overcome that.” I think China is really scary. As AI improves, having access to 100 million people through TikTok is insane. Again, this is what we’re talking about. It’s not a prohibition. We’re talking about not letting the Chinese Communist Party own this. It’s not allowed to own it. New York Times. Rupert Murdoch had to become a US citizen. ”
He went on to say, “There’s a crazy dictator in charge.”
Lonsdale added, “Elon Musk and other right-wingers want to make sure that the president doesn’t have the power to pursue whatever platform they want. My reading of this bill is that, in fact, I think CFIUS’ powers are already a superset of those things, and I don’t think this bill creates that. I think it’s clear that it doesn’t create any special privileges, but they need to go after the Chinese Communist Party and TikTok and fix it. I think it’s their duty as Americans to do this. That’s really important.”
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