Key Republican Leaders Are Falling in Line With Trump on TikTok

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Despite a new federal appeals court ruling upholding legislation that threatens to ban TikTok next year, a ban on the social media app is actually less likely now than ever. That is because key leaders of the Republican Party are increasingly falling in line with President-elect Trump’s support for the app and softening their own positions on how to address its future. 

Beyond the obvious First Amendment concerns with stifling a social media platform that gives voice to more than 170 million American users, these politicians all recognize that the app is a critical political tool for reaching young and diverse voters, as Trump demonstrated so ably during his campaign. Finally putting this TikTok ban threat in the rearview mirror is both good policy and good politics. 

Leading Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Trump’s designated new Secretary of State, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who both voted for the ban legislation, have indicated that Republicans are shifting towards supporting Trump’s efforts to save TikTok. Communications Daily last month reported that despite his previous concerns, Rubio now says he’s deferring to the president-elect on the matter, stating, “He’s the president, so if that’s what he wants to do, he…has the power to do it.”  

Jordan was similarly quoted as saying, “That was a tough vote either way, so I understand that if the president, the commander in chief, if he thinks that [a reversal] makes sense, then I think that would be fine.” Jordan went on to express his own First Amendment concerns with banning the app and concluded: “If he wants to change it, I’ve got no problem with that.” 

The move to save TikTok is, in part, a recognition of the power of the app to reach otherwise difficult-to-reach populations who no longer get their news and information from traditional outlets. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that just over one-half of adults (54%) say they at least sometimes get news from social media. These sites include TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, Reddit, and a number of other smaller social media sites. The numbers for those who regularly get news from TikTok reached 17% in 2024, up from just 3% in 2020. And about half of TikTok users (52%) regularly get news on the app, up from 22% in 2020. Any politician ignoring these trends does so at their own electoral peril.  

The Trump campaign clearly demonstrated the ability of TikTok to reach new audiences. A case in point was Trump’s October campaign stop at a McDonalds in Pennsylvania. The visit became a viral moment that “spread like wildfire on TikTok, where users were eager to watch, like, comment, and share,” as FYP News reported. The outlet noted that the TikTok post from Trump’s account showing the visit received about 40 million views, and a related account added to that total equaling over 100 million views. 

A Daily Mail TikTok post showing Trump packing up fries racked up an additional 13.4 million views and a video of him serving customers at the drive-thru window collected 7.3 million views. Overall, Trump dominated Harris on TikTok, consistently receiving thousands more mentions than the Vice President throughout the campaign and helping him to control the online conversation, according to FYP News.

In September, during the heat of the campaign, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, “FOR ALL OF THOSE THAT WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA, VOTE TRUMP!” Since then, his surrogates have made it clear that he intends to “deliver” on his promise. 

Kellyanne Conway, a Trump veteran and advisor to the campaign, was quoted in Fox News saying that Trump “appreciates the breadth and reach of TikTok” and “Democrats are the party of bans – gas-powered cars, menthol cigarettes, vapes, plastic straws, and TikTok.” This was an effective message, associating Democrats with largely unpopular nanny-state, intrusive policies, and associating Trump and Republicans with broader themes of personal choice, liberty, and freedom. 

With key Republican leaders falling in line, Trump is now poised to make good on his promise to save TikTok. By doing so, he will be protecting our First Amendment rights and demonstrating once again his political mastery.