Dem Sen. Warner admits Trump was right about TikTok
“Donald Trump was right on TikTok years ago.”
By Ben Whedon Updated: October 26, 2022 - 6:42pm
FTA
Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner made a stunning admission while visiting Australia, asserting that former President Donald Trump was right to warn of social media platform TikTok’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
“This is not something you would normally hear me say, but Donald Trump was right on TikTok years ago,” he said on the trip, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. While president, Trump attempted to ban the app outright but later pivoted, opting for a partial sale of the firm’s American assets to a U.S. company, which ultimately fell through amid a bevy of legal obstacles.
“If your country uses Huawei, if your kids are on TikTok, if your population uses WeChat as a social media platform, the ability for China to have undue influence is, I think, a much greater challenge and a much more immediate threat than any kind of actual, armed conflict,” Warner continued. “China having this kind of technology domination in a number of countries ought to scare the heck out of us because we’ve seen the kind of Orwellian surveillance state they’ve already created within China.”
Warner’s comments come amid reports that the Biden administration is looking to cut a deal to keep TikTok in the United States but to separate American user data from that of other countries and to deny Chinese officials access to it. Industry experts remain skeptical that parent company ByteDance could accomplish such a separation and that a deal would alleviate security concerns about the app.
‘Shawshank Redemption’ star slams actors’ unions for ‘discriminatory’ COVID vaccine policies
Other actors joined Robbins in agreement.
By Madeleine Hubbard Updated: October 26, 2022 - 4:25pm
FTA
Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins, best known for his starring role in “The Shawshank Redemption,” is criticizing two actors’ unions for what he says are “discriminatory” COVID-19 vaccine policies.
“Way past time to end your discriminatory policies,” Robbins tweeted Tuesday, tagging in his post Actors Equity and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Robbins said a New York judge “ruled that all unvaccinated NYC employees are ‘reinstated to their full employment’ and are ‘entitled to back pay in salary from the date of termination.’”
Judge Ralph Porzio, in Richmond County Supreme Court, based in Staten Island, wrote in his ruling Monday that the New York City vaccine mandate was “arbitrary and capricious.” The city has appealed the decision.
Other actors joined Robbins in agreement.
“I’m ready to have a conversation with my attorney about why I have to pay ... dues when my union prohibits me from working,” responded Disney actress Leigh-Allyn Baker.
Comedian and Screen Actors Guild board member Rob Schneider replied to Robbins: “I agree with you and I have been trying to make this case but it really is a religion with these zealots at this point since it is beyond their ability to reason.”