Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci weighed in on former President Trump’s decision to join TikTok, saying Friday that the move shows “how transactional” his former boss can be.
Scaramucci, in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, talked about how Trump appeared to turn the issue around – after spending much of his time in office trying to ban the app. He told the host that he doesn’t understand how the former president gets a “free pass” to change his position on an issue while other politicians receive more scrutiny.
“Because John Kerry was for war before he was against it. Hillary Clinton, they called her a shambles. Donald Trump was negative on Bitcoin and crypto. Tweeted about it as president. Now all of a sudden he’s positive about it,” the conservative pundit said, adding that Trump was “negative about TikTok, he would ban it. Now he’s positive about it.”
“I don’t understand how these people don’t realize how transactional he is,” he continued. “And in the heat of the moment, if it serves his personal interests, forget about the country. It has to serve his personal interest. It will turn on a dime.”
Scaramucci’s comments come just days after Trump officially joined TikTok. His former president and team posted a video of him and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White at a UFC title fight in New Jersey.
Its debut on the platform was effective, surpassing the number of followers of President Biden’s campaign in less than 24 hours.
Scaramucci characterized Trump’s decision to join the platform as having “good political instincts” but said the effort is “completely dishonest” and should be denounced.
“And now, the president has good political instincts and he sees both of those things as a way to raise money and potentially broaden the birth of a younger demographic of voters,” he said Friday. “But it’s completely dishonest and I don’t understand why he’s not being criticized in the same way that other classic politicians have been criticized for changing their views.”
Trump attempted to ban TikTok while serving in the White House, issuing an executive order that would have forced the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. assets. The order ended up blocked in court.
This year, he changed that rhetoric, opposing the ban and arguing that it would benefit other social media companies such as Facebook.
During funding bill negotiations earlier this year, the House and Senate advanced legislation that would ban TikTok from U.S. app stores due to an alleged national security threat. Biden signed the legislation in April, giving ByteDance about a year to sell its assets or risk losing access to the US market.
The president also has the authority to grant a 90-day extension.
Trump blamed Biden for the potential ban as the bill worked its way through Congress.
The former president’s main Super PAC, Maga Inc., also joined TikTok last month — likely a move that will resonate with younger voters.
The Biden campaign has been on TikTok for months, also looking to connect with influencers and reach young voters ahead of a likely rematch with Trump in November. The holder does not have a personal account.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
