The White House joined Tiktok on Tuesday. There, they share video clips of President Donald Trump and his staff, seeking to portray them as resourceful and rebellious American leaders.
These clips are edited like a burning reel together, showing Trump rejecting calls from lawmakers and threatening lawsuits during a press conference. Another video once “ripped” a New York Times reporter after asking questions at a press conference.
Despite the app’s legal battle, Tiktok continues to be an important way for political candidates and government agencies to connect with constituents. However, by running this ticoku account, the White House appears to be in opposition to government guidelines. This is because federal employees were previously prohibited from using Tiktok on government devices.
Trump himself launched a nationwide call to ban Tiktok in 2020, citing the dangers that China’s Communist Party could have access to American user data. However, in his second semester, the president has taken a different approach. The Supreme Court upheld a law that bans Tiktok if it is not sold to an American company, but Trump has continued to extend the sales deadline.
TechCrunch contacted Tiktok for comment.
Receptions to the White House video are clearly mixed. As of Wednesday morning, each of the five videos uploaded by the White House to Tiktok was spammed with negative comments, many of which refer to the president’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a child sex offender convicted at a financier who died at the much-anticipated trial.
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