House Republicans made a rare policy break from Former President Donald Trump when they passed a bill Tuesday that could ban TikTok in the United States.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee had reversed a position his administration took when he was in office and came out against a possible TikTok ban in the United States.
The popular social media app TikTok has been in the crosshairs of lawmakers in Congress who are looking at forcing its Chinese owners to sell it or face the ban.
"Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people," Trump said in a phone interview on CNBC Monday morning.
He also cited its popularity among young Americans.
Trump's supporters were not swayed by Trump's arguments.
Among the 197 Republicans who voted in favor of the legislation some of his staunchest supporters including Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Politico reported.
"I always like to know what President Trump was thinking," Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) told the poliitcal site. "But I definitely believe this is a good bill."
There are approximately 170 million users in the U.S. but the heads of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have indicated that ByteDance Ltd.'s ownership of TikTok is a threat to U.S. national security.
Steve Bannon, a former adviser, suggested on Saturday that Trump was paid off to change his view.
Trump recently met with conservative hedge fund manager Jeff Yass, who has a $33 billion stake in TikTok, Newsweek reports.
"Simple: Yass Coin," Bannon wrote in a post on the conservative social media app Gettr.
The bill is expected to face a more difficult path to passage in the Senate.
President Biden says that he would sign the legislation if Congress approves it.
On Thursday, former Trump Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that he was heading up a group interested in buying TikTok. There is no indication ByteDance has any desire to sell the company.
