Things are not going so well for Donald Trump. A full 205,257 people have died from the coronavirus. If the 9/11 attack happened every day for 69 days, it would equal that number. Oh, and there is the little matter of POTUS gaming the IRS to pay $0 to $750 a year — for decades. Then, this happened.
TikTok filed a request for an injunction that resulted in a judge blocking Trump from banning TikTok downloads in U.S. app stores. So what is this TikTok everyone has been talking about? It consists of amateur videos primarily between teens.
The president has been all hot and bothered about a Chinese-owned company ByteDance Ltd. Thus far, estimates show that TikTok has been downloaded over 175 million times in American. The company, like the U.S. technical companies, captures information on its users.
In his executive order, Trump invoked a national security order. He feared TikTok would represent a danger via Communist China. The app would be:
‘[P]otentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.’
According to CNBC:
‘The terms of a deal to create a U.S.-based TikTok Global still remain in flux with ByteDance, Oracle and Walmart still needing to finalize the ownership structure of the new entity.’
Trump carefully selected his Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross make the announcement. According to NBC’s Tonight Show host, Jimmy Fallon:
‘Wilbur Ross is what happens when you ignore your phone updates.’
In an unusual hearing on Sunday, Judge Carl Nichols of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia “temporarily blocked” Trump’s order. If the judge had not done so, TikTok could not have been “downloaded from U.S. app stores.”
That meant our government could have manhandled Apple and Google app stores into compliance with its wishes.
Judge Nichols’ hearing resulted in an injunction against Trump’s order. At the same time, the judge left open a very broad ban that would begin on November 12. This ban would stop TikTok in its tracks. The company released a statement that read:
‘We’re pleased that the court agreed with our legal arguments and issued an injunction preventing the implementation of the TikTok app ban. We will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees. At the same time, we will also maintain our ongoing dialogue with the government to turn our proposal, which the President gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement.’
America’s Commerce Department intends to protect the executive order calling it “consistent with the law and promotes legitimate national security interests:”
‘The Government will comply with the injunction and has taken immediate steps to do so, but intends to vigorously defend the E.O. and the Secretary’s implementation efforts from legal challenges.’
The attorney for TikTok John Hall said any download ban would be “unprecedented” and “irrational:”
‘This is just a blunt way to whack the company.’
Lawyers for the U.S. said in court:
‘ByteDance has significant and close ties to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) which could potentially be leveraged to further their agenda and exact pressure on ByteDance.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
Twitter world went crazy over the latest Trump news. Take a look at some of our favorite responses below:
Less than 40 days to to end #TheTrumpDepressionpic.twitter.com/z24mGL9h8f
— Leland #StayHome 🏡 #VoteByMail 🇺🇸 (@daft_editor) September 28, 2020
Donald Trump paid $70K for hair styling and writes it off on his tax returns. He’s being robbed. #TrumpTaxReturns #TrumpIsBroke #TrumpIsNotABillionaire pic.twitter.com/53wRZfehE3
— Jules Morgan (@glamelegance) September 28, 2020
“Ultimately, Mr. Trump has been more successful playing a business mogul than being one in real life.”pic.twitter.com/TX8GsKBqIQ
— Truthteller (@loveisphere) September 28, 2020
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
