Thursday, September 12, 2024
Trump-connected Ballard Partners has agreed to represent Chinese video app TikTok.
President Joe Biden signed a bill into law on April 24 requiring TikTok owner, Bytedance, to divest the video app within a year, or face a ban in the US.
The move follows Congressional concerns over Bytedance’s close ties with the Chinese Communist Party, and the potential of TikTok to hoover up the data of American users.
Donald Trump, who championed TikTok’s split from Bytedance, now opposes the divestiture because he claims it would benefit Facebook, which he calls “the enemy of the people.”
His flip-flop also may have been influenced by news that the investment firm of billionaire Jeff Yass, a Republican mega-donor, owns a 15 percent stake in Bytedance.
Brian Ballard, a top Trump fundraiser in Florida, heads his firm’s TikTok team.
Dan McFaul, aide to Florida Congressmen Joe Scarborough and Matt Gaetz; Michael LaRosa, advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and Stephen Klopp, deputy assistant sergeant at arms at the Senate, round out the Ballard TikTok squad.