MAGA Republicans defend TikTok as ‘conservative platform’ as fate hangs in balance with Supreme Court

MAGA Republicans have expressed enthusiastic support for TikTok ahead of a ban on the social media platform that is set to go into effect later this month.

“Mr. Trump won the election because he listened to first-time voters like me and joined TikTok to take his message directly to us,” RNC Youth Advisory Committee Member Chief Brillyn Holyhand spoke to FOX News Digital about the impending ban. “He didn't need paid influencers or embarrassing trends like his failed counterpart. All he had to do was go where Gen Z was, TikTok, and share his plans. All I had to do was to stand up.”

Representatives from TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, are expected to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, asking the nation's highest court to delay a ban on the app that is scheduled to take effect one day before Inauguration Day. . President Biden signed the bill in April, giving TikTok's parent company until Jan. 19 to sell or face a U.S. ban.

Unless the Supreme Court blocks the ban, TikTok users in the U.S. will no longer be able to download the app, and internet providers will no longer be able to grant access to the site.

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The impending ban was sparked by concerns that U.S. users' data was being collected by the Chinese government, but MAGA Republicans and content creators who spoke to Fox Digital said the reasoning was disingenuous. I balked.

Brillyn Holyhand, chair of the RNC's Youth Advisory Council, credits TikTok with motivating young people to vote for President-elect Donald Trump. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

“I delve as deeply as possible into all concerns related to this platform, especially on my daily show where I share my opinions and commentary on what's going on in culture and politics.” TikTok creator and TPUSA commentator Isabelle said Brown has more than that. 500,000 followers on TikToksaid in a phone interview with FOX Digital. “And we've been facing the possibility of a ban on this platform for at least nine months to a year…The complaints I've been hearing, particularly from politicians, are primarily focused on national security.”

President Trump says TikTok's fate should be in his own hands when he returns to the White House

“But I find it hard to believe that the real argument for censoring TikTok is based on national security concerns, even though there is still documented evidence that virtually every American social media company Very hard to believe. Meta, Twitter, YouTube, etc. are selling your data to your own government, the Chinese Communist Party, and even the Russian government. ”

TikTok CEO Sho-Gi Chiu testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, on March 23, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Hey, there's even a record that Airbnb sold American data to the Chinese Communist Party. So there doesn't seem to be much desire to truly protect the security of American citizens' cyber and personal information from the government as a whole.” As a platform itself We're going to focus solely on TikTok,” Brown continued.

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Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump are praising TikTok after the former president and president-elect made significant inroads with Gen Z, especially young male voters, last cycle. A Fox News voter poll released after the election found that 53% of men between the ages of 18 and 44 supported Trump, compared to 45% for Vice President Kamala Harris.

TikTok influencer Isabel Brown says she doesn't buy the national security argument for banning TikTok, given how various U.S.-based social apps handle data. said. (Fox News)

“We're talking about a site that roughly 200 million Americans (75% of whom are Gen Z) use as their primary news source every day, and according to some studies, the primary web browser search tool. So even more so than Google… And we find that virality on Tiktok, the opportunity to converse with as many people as possible, is unparalleled on any other social media platform. ,” Brown said.

A Republican strategist told Fox News Digital that TikTok is, by all accounts, a “conservative platform.”

“No matter how you look at it, TikTok is now a conservative platform. You can't argue with the value of the platform, given how Trump has dwarfed the competition, and you can't argue that Trump is fulfilling his mission.” I don’t think there’s a world without it.’ Promise me you’ll save it,” the strategist said.

The Republican insider added: [Sen. Mitch] McConnell and [former Vice President Mike] Pence's desire to ban it means it needs to be preserved. ”

A participant holds a sign in support of TikTok outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Ahead of the new year, Sen. Mitch McConnell filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court asking the justices to deny ByteDance's request to delay the ban.

“The far-fetched idea that TikTok has an expressive right to further the Chinese Communist Party's censorship regime is absurd,” Michael A. Fragoso, Mr. McConnell's lawyer, wrote in a friend's court brief. “Should Congress have allowed Nikita Khrushchev to buy CBS and replace 'The Bing Crosby Show' with Alexander Nevsky?”

Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence's nonprofit organization Advancing American Freedom filed a similar brief with the U.S. Supreme Court last month.

“The Chinese Communist Party does not respect freedom of speech in either China or the United States. , which should not be read as such, can be said or heard,'' the group wrote.

President Tim Chapman, who promotes American freedom, told Fox News Digital that when President Trump first moved to ban TikTok, Trump's first administration “For the first time, I got it right,'' he said.

“The Trump administration first got this judgment right when it planned to ban TikTok through its executive powers for the very same concerns that exist now. “Just because we're dripping with water doesn't mean the national security implications have changed,'' Chapman said.

President Trump joins TikTok, the app he once tried to ban as president

Emily Wilson, political commentator The host of the Emily Saves America podcast told Fox News Digital that there are both sides to the debate over the impending ban on TikTok, but that introducing a ban would be a “hypocritical attack on free speech.” ” he said.

“The TikTok ban is controversial and I think there are two sides to this. I think TikTok is a very left-leaning app that consumes too much of people's time. But at the same time, it can radicalize young people. “One day I woke up on TikTok and young people in America were saying they support Osama bin Laden,” Wilson told FOX Digital.

Political commentator Emily Wilson opposes banning TikTok due to concerns about free speech.

“This seems to be an app that is anti-American and leaning toward brainwashing young children. At the end of the day, if I say I'm going to ban it, that's hypocritical of free speech. I don't think it's “We don't want to harm young people,” she said. Added.

Selling TikTok could be Trump's 'deal of the century', says House China Committee chairman

Trump himself has done a 180-degree turn on TikTok. In 2020, during his first administration, Trump tried to ban the app from the U.S. market, citing national security concerns. However, his executive order was ultimately blocked in federal court.

Fast forward to 2024, Trump joined the app in June during the campaign, and since then, supporters have flocked to his content on the platform, amassing around 15 million followers and 107 million followers. It received 10,000 likes. President Trump also filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court last month, which did not support either party in the case and argued that the platform's fate should be left to the administration.

Former President Donald Trump dances off stage after speaking alongside former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard during a rally at City Hall in La Crosse, Wisconsin on August 29, 2024. (Kamil Krzazinski/AFP via Getty Images)

“Today, President Donald J. Trump filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, extending the deadline causing TikTok's impending shutdown and giving President Trump the opportunity to resolve the matter in a way that saves and preserves TikTok. “The national security of the United States will be protected when Mr. Trump returns to office on January 20, 2025,” Trump press secretary and incoming White House communications director Stephen Chan said on FOX last month. He told News Digital.

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“President Donald J. Trump (“President Trump”) is the 45th President of the United States and will soon become the 47th President of the United States,” the brief states. “On January 20, 2025, President Trump will assume responsibility for the United States' national security, foreign policy, and other critical executive functions.”

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman, Paul Steinhauser and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.