TikTok stars convinced Trump wants to ban app to seek revenge on those pranking him, not to protect Americans
TikTok trolls have decried President Donald Trump's plans on banning the social media platform in order to stop Chinese hackers from stealing user data from Americans. According to them, the POTUS simply wanted revenge because he could not take a joke and TikTok is filled with pranks against him. TMZ spoke to Mary Jo Laupp, a.k.a. TikTok Grandma, and DeJuan Booker, two notorious TikTokers who were hell-bent on derailing the Trump presidency as well as his business empire by creating prank and parody videos on him. As a result, they were convinced that the leader of the free world was planning to exact his revenge on them by banishing access to the medium from the nation.
Laupp, for example, might have had a hand in the remarkable failure of Trump's Tulsa rally, which was supposed to be this grand comeback for his reelection campaign. She made the original TikTok encouraging people to register for Trump's Tulsa rally and then not show up. The call to action, or rather inaction, was answered by a huge number of teens and K-pop fans who made the video spread like wildfire on the platform. Only 6,200 people attended the event, lthough the BOK Center, where the rally took place, has a capacity of 19,000. When the event did not turn into the campaign comeback that Trump had hoped for he reportedly threw a fit, although the White House denied any anger on his part. Laupp thinks that the president is still miffed about it and hence has decided to exact his revenge this way.
She added that she will not have any regrets even if Trump does go through with the ban because "it was worth it to show how Gen Z'ers can impact politics." She also hoped it motivates them to hit the polls in November.
Meanwhile DeJuan, the leader of "Gen Savage" said that although he admitted that his creation of prank videos against Trump was petty but "the whole purpose is to let Gen Z know their voice matters and when they come together... they can make a difference." He added that the president's desire to take revenge against the trollers will not be successful because his community will move to other platforms if Trump bans TikTok and "they'll keep speaking out against 45."
Trump has provided TikTok with the deadline of September 15 to sell its US operations to an American company to avoid getting shut out of the country. Microsoft is currently in talks with the Chinese app to acquire its US operations. Microsoft issued a statement on their official website on August 3 and said that they've decided to "explore a purchase of TikTok" following a conversation with Trump.
The statement reads, "Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J Trump, Microsoft is prepared to continue discussions to explore a purchase of TikTok in the United States." Soon after announcing their interest in the app, Microsoft added in their following statement, "Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury."