Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci weighed in on former President Trump’s decision to join TikTok on Friday, saying the move shows how “transactional” his former boss is.
Scaramucci, interview Speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Trump appeared to have changed his tune on the issue, despite having spent much of his time in office trying to ban the app. Blitzer told the host that he didn’t understand why a former president gets a “free pass” to change his stance on issues while other politicians face more scrutiny.
“John Kerry was for it before he was against it. Hillary Clinton was called a mood swinger. Donald Trump was against Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He tweeted about it as president. Now all of a sudden he’s for it,” the conservative commentator said, adding that Trump was “against TikTok and was going to ban it. Now he’s for it.”
“I don’t understand how people can’t understand how transactional he is,” he continued. “And impulsively, if it serves his personal interest, forget about the country. It all has to serve his personal interest. He’ll change his tune in a heartbeat.”
Scaramucci’s comments came just days after President Trump officially joined TikTok, where he and his team posted a video of themselves with UFC president Dana White at a UFC title fight in New Jersey.
His debut on the platform was effective, surpassing the follower count of President Biden’s campaign within 24 hours.
Scaramucci called Trump’s decision to join the platform “good political instincts” but said the effort was “totally disingenuous” and should be condemned.
“And right now, the president has good political instincts and he thinks those two things will lead to fundraising and to a broader base of young voters,” he said Friday. “But this is completely disingenuous, and I don’t understand why the president isn’t being accused of flip-flopping in the same way that other classic politicians have been accused of flip-flopping.”
President Trump tried to ban TikTok while in the White House, issuing an executive order to force the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US assets – an order that was ultimately blocked in court.
This year, he shifted his rhetoric, arguing against the ban and that it would benefit other social media companies like Facebook.
During budget negotiations earlier this year, the House and Senate advanced legislation to ban TikTok from US app stores as a national security threat. President Biden signed the bill in April, giving ByteDance roughly a year to sell assets or risk losing access to the US market.
The President also has the power to issue 90-day extensions.
As the bill makes its way through Congress, President Trump criticized President Biden over the potential ban.
The former president’s main super PAC, Maga Inc., also joined TikTok last month, a move that is likely to resonate with younger voters.
The Biden campaign has been using TikTok in recent months, looking to connect with influencers and reach younger voters ahead of an expected rematch with Trump in November. Biden, the incumbent, does not have a personal account on the app.
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