In case TikTok’s preemptive praise of President-elect Donald Trump on January 18 and 19 didn’t make it clear that they intended to kiss the ring, the party they hosted on Jan. 19 made their intentions crystal clear.
According to Rolling Stone, the social media platform hosted a party at the Sax Restaurant and Lounge in Washington, D.C., hosted by conservative darlings C.J. Pearson and Raquel Debono. The pair played key roles in helping to elect President-elect Donald Trump back into office.
Pearson, a young Black conservative, was responsible for heading the RNC’s youth advisory council and used his massive social media platform to get young influencers to rally support for Trump.
Debono, meanwhile, used her position as the chief marketing officer of Date Right, a conservative dating platform, to host parties in hopes of uniting the “power couple” in conservative circles.
Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump advisor and architect of the incoming administration’s influencer strategy, addressed the party and noted the attendees’ roles in delivering the White House for his boss.
“There would be no celebration tonight if it weren’t for the commitment of our keyboard warriors,” Bruesewitz said atop a balcony which overlooked the crowd. “Each and every one of you played a role in the historic landslide victory, and the president is incredibly grateful…and we’re all going to celebrate soon at the White House.”
For their part, TikTok made the alt-right feel right at home, both at the party and on their platform, and according to The New York Times, the platform is willing to capitulate to Trump as long as it’s allowed to function in the United States.
As Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University, told the outlet, TikTok “will go to any lengths to please the authorities.”
Chander continued, “TikTok is seeking the president’s favor in these ways because their very existence in this country depends on him,” Chander said in a Jan. 19 interview with the New York Times. “He’s their lifeline, so they are making sure that they stay on his good side.”
According to Fortune
, Trump changed his tune on TikTok after his relationship with Jeff Yass, a Trump-supporting billionaire who owns a substantial portion of the platform, began to deepen.Yass’s investment company, Susquehanna International Group, owns a 15% stake in ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. Yass owns 7 percent, bringing his total company control to 22 percent.
Yass has not indicated that he is interested in increasing his share of TikTok to 50% ownership, which Trump has floated as a potential solution to his self-created TikTok problem.
On the contrary, Yass often chooses not to respond to media outlets when asked for comment regarding the TikTok ban, but he has deep pockets and a vested interest in keeping TikTok from being banned.
Although there were rumors ahead of the inauguration party that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew would be at the party, he opted not to attend. Still, he will attend the President-elect’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
According to The Daily Beast, Chew has been trying to win Trump’s favor by appealing to his ego. For example, he posted a video statement to his personal TikTok account after the Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban earlier in January.
“I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States. This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship,” Zi Chew said.
He continued, “We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform—one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process.”
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