Fox’s Kilmeade, Rand Paul Throw Down Over TikTok Ban, China Ownership: ‘You Just Told a Lie, Brian!’

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) threw down in a heated exchange on Thursday about a TikTok ban in the United States and whether or not it’s accurate to say the social media app is controlled by China.

In a Thursday morning interview, Kilmeade made it clear where he falls in the debate, calling TikTok and its China ties a “national security issue.” He also played a clip of FBI Director Christopher Wray testifying to his concerns about the social media app and the influence China can have over its algorithms. Kilmeade suggested a possible list of nations like Russia and North Korea that should be barred from operating such businesses in the United States.

Paul pushed back on the influence China has over TikTok, arguing the leadership is far more diverse than most think. The senator said there are far better alternatives to banning, including ensuring data is stored in the United States. Kilmeade pushed back by saying all that matters is the algorithm, which he said will be controlled by China’s ByteDance.

Paul argued:

It needs to be debated and not assumed as fact. The company’s owned 60% by international investors, 20% by the two Chinese software engineers who developed it, the entrepreneurs who began the business, and 20% by their employees, 7,000 of whom are American. It’s a very diverse ownership. It’s not owned by the Chinese government. In fact, on TikTok’s board there are no Chinese nationals that control that are associated with the government at all. They are CEOs from Singapore. So this is international corporation and like every other international corporation they deserve their day in court. You can’t just take their property.

All House Republicans and 37 Democrats voted this week to ban the social media app if its China ownership is not divested from the company. The legislation would still need to get through the Senate, but President Joe Biden has said he’d sign a ban if it lands on his desk (despite using the app himself).

Kilmeade and Paul’s disagreement turned fiery when the two could not even agree on who owns TikTok and Paul at one point accused Kilmeade of straight up lying on TV.

“Who owns that company? ByteDance. ByteDance is owned by China,” Kilmeade said.

“No. It’s not. See, that’s a lie,” Paul shot back, accusing Kilmeade of “defaming” TikTok and breaking down the leadership once again.

“Who controls the algorithm? It’s not nonprofits. Who owns the algorithm!?” Kilmeade asked.

“TikTok owns the own algorithm and it’s not in China,” Paul said.

Kilmeade again pointed to ByteDance and said, “who owns ByteDance? The Chinese government.”

“You just told a lie. You can’t say something on TV something that’s a lie by a company. That is an out and out lie and it is provably false,” Paul said.

“What is a lie?” Kilmeade responded.

“They are not owned by the Chinese government! TikTok is owned privately,” Paul repeated.

“ByteDance controls the algorithm. That’s all that matters!” Kilmeade said.

Kilmeade brought the interview to a close as the pair continued arguing the point, with Kilmeade accusing Paul of being “comfortable with TikTok influencing America” and the senator suggesting Kilmeade’s stance could eventually lead to Fox News or other social media apps like Twitter being banned.

“I’m comfortable with the Constitution. You cannot take people’s property without due process,” Paul said. “If you believe there’s a national exemption to the Constitution then you believe that Fox News could be shut down, that Twitter could be shut down. That’s a terrible thing to believe.”

Watch above via Fox News.