Rampell: U.S. Gov’t Owning TikTok Is Nationalizing a Media Company Which Is ‘Quite Literally the Definition of Socialism’

PHILLIP: “I think we have Catherine still with us. Do we?”
RAMPELL: “Still here, yes.”
PHILLIP: “Catherine, you know, let‘s talk about what he was saying in that clip earlier. He was saying, what about some kind of joint venture? What does he mean by that? And what role would the United States government have in owning TikTok?”
RAMPELL: “It‘s a little bit unclear, but not only in that clip. Also on Truth Social, he put out a statement indicating that the United States would have a 50% ownership stake, which I and many others have interpreted to mean the U.S. government. So that means a Chinese company owns 50%, or a Chinese company plus its shareholders, and the U.S. government owns another 50%, which sure sounds like nationalizing a media company, which is is kind of an odd move for a president, especially a Republican president. I mean, I can‘t tell you how many times, including on this show, I have debated with people about whether President Biden was socialist, but I do not remember President Biden ever threatening to nationalize a gigantic tech company. That is quite literally the definition of socialism, you know, the state owning the means of production or, in this particular case, the memes of production, but that sure is what it sounds like Trump is proposing here, that the U.S. Government would take an ownership stake going forward and have a joint venture with a Chinese company.”