TikTok Ad Airs on Fox News Moments After GOP Candidates Condemn Chinese App at Debate

Fox News aired a TikTok commercial during Wednesday’s 2024 Republican primary debate less than fifteen minutes after moderator and Fox Business host Stuart Varney grilled Vivek Ramaswamy about the app’s “ties to the Chinese government.”

“Mr. Ramaswamy, TikTok is banned on government-issued devices because of its ties to the Chinese government, yet you joined TikTok at a dinner with boxer and influencer Jake Paul,” said Varney during the debate. “Should the commander-in-chief be so easily persuaded by an influencer?”

Ramaswamy replied:

The answer is, I have a radical idea for the Republican Party. We need to win elections and part of how we win elections is reaching the next generation of young Americans where they are. So when I get into office, I have been very clear, kids under the age of 16 should not be using addictive social media. We’re only ever going to get to declaring independence from China, which I favor, if we actually win, so while the Democrats are running rampant, reaching the next generation three-to-one, there’s exactly one person in the Republican Party which talks a big game about reaching young people and that’s me.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley disagreed with Ramaswamy and launched into a passionate offensive against TikTok, which she described as “dangerous for all of us” and concluded should be banned.

“This is infuriating because TikTok is one of the most dangerous social media apps that we could have,” she claimed. “One hundred fifty million people are on TikTok. That means they can get your contacts, they can get your financial information, they can get your e-mails, they can get text messages, they can get all of these things. China knows exactly what they are doing.”

Haley declared, “You’re now wanting kids to go and get on the social media that’s dangerous for all of us. You were in business with the Chinese that gave Hunter Biden $5 million. We can’t trust you. We can’t trust you. We can’t have TikTok in our kids’ lives. We need to ban it.”

Less than fifteen minutes later, Fox News cut to a commercial for TikTok which promoted the app as a useful tool for small, rural businesses.

“TikTok is a fantastic platform for DIY,” declared a woman in the commercial. “If you’d have told me three years ago that I would own my own business and be expanding into a separate building, I would’ve told you you’d lost your mind.”

The ad then concluded with the slogan, “TikTok Sparks Good.”

Watch above via Fox News.