Some U.S. leaders and lawmakers backpedal on eve of TikTok ban

Congressional leaders who championed the TikTok bill last year in the U.S. now want to delay the ban on the popular app from going into effect.

WASHINGTON — In the middle of a fiercely fought presidential campaign last year, Democratic and Republican lawmakers banded together to pass a bill that could lead to the ban of the popular social media app TikTok in the United States. President Joe Biden signed it into law with little objection.

Now, on the eve of a TikTok ban set for Sunday, neither party wants to take credit for that bipartisan legislative win.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that implementation of the TikTok law “simply must fall to the next administration,” given that President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in on Monday.

And congressional leaders who championed the law are now shying away from calling for the ban to begin Sunday. Instead, they said they want to see a delay to allow TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, more time to sell the app to a U.S. buyer.

On Friday morning, the Supreme Court delivered a blow to TikTok by upholding the law passed by Congress last April.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/us-leaders-lawmakers-backpedal-eve-tiktok-ban-rcna188180

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