CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten explained Wednesday why President-elect Donald Trump might oppose a ban on TikTok, pointing to shifting public opinion and his improved performance with young voters.
When asked at a Monday press conference how he intends to prevent a TikTok ban, Trump said he will “take a look” at what he can do and added that he has “a warm spot in [his] heart” for the platform, likely due to the possibility that it helped him with young voters. Enten, on “CNN News Central,” noted that public support for banning TikTok has steadily declined and pointed out that Trump performed significantly better with young voters against Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 compared to his performance against President Joe Biden in 2020.
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“There’s politics at play here, right? And, you know, you go back … ‘support banning TikTok’ in March of 2023, look, it was right at 50%. Look at how this number has dropped over time. You go to October of 2023, already dropped to 38%. Now you go to August of 2024. It’s just 32%,” Enten said. “So surprise, surprise surprise, politics may be playing a role here. Supporting a ban of TikTok was quite popular a little under two years ago, and now it’s just only about a third proposition here, which is 32% supporting it. No wonder Donald Trump might be changing his mind on this issue.”
Enten also noted that nearly 60% of adults under 30 years old use TikTok
“Donald Trump likes the youngins and the youngins like TikTok,” he said, adding, “Why does Donald Trump want what the youngins want? It’s because, look, if you look at the Trump versus Democrat margin, you look at voters under the age of 25, you go back to 2020. Look, Joe Biden won this group overwhelmingly. Look at that, by 34 points. You look at 2024. Look, Kamala Harris won it, but just by 11.”
“Trump gained more among voters under the age of 25 than any other age group. If you think of young people as being Democrats, while they may still lean Democrat, not in any way in the same numbers that they used to just even four years ago, Donald Trump doing considerably better among younger voters,” the data reporter continued. “And I think that is part of the reason why he wants to do what younger voters want to do.”
A federal appeals court ruled Friday to uphold a law that will force TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the platform or face a national ban in the United States on Jan. 19, 2025, the day before Trump’s inauguration. However, the Supreme Court agreed to hear TikTok’s challenge of the law, setting oral arguments for Jan. 10, according to an order.
Trump attempted to ban TikTok in the United States through executive orders during his first term, but federal judges ruled against the orders and Biden formally rescinded them in 2021. More recently, Trump appeared to come out against a TikTok ban in March amid concerns it would benefit Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook.
“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” Trump posted on Truth Social at the time. “I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!”
However, Zuckerberg’s Meta recently donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund amid a thaw in relations between the president-elect and Meta CEO, who recently paid a visit to Mar-a-Lago, according to The Wall Street Journal. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon also intends to donate $1 million to the fund, according to the WSJ.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew also convened with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, CNN reported.
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