How TikTok’s slick, ‘tone-deaf’ lobbyist in Washington miscalculated as Congress passed sale-or-ban bill
NY Post
TikTok’s aggressive push to prevent Congress from forcing a sale or ban of the China-owned app was an epic disaster – and insiders are blaming the company’s slick, seasoned lobbyist in Washington who they claim miscalculated with outdated, tone-deaf tactics.
As the bipartisan bill moved toward passage late last month as part of a Ukraine-Israel aid package, TikTok launched a headline-grabbing campaign to mobilize 170 million American users through push notifications on the app, with CEO Shou Chew urging users to “make your voices heard.”
But the controversial blitz — echoing tactics used by Uber and Airbnb nearly a decade earlier in fierce battles in New York City — sparked what skeptics dismissed as little more than crank calls. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called the cops after he got a voicemail threatening, “I’ll find you and shoot you and cut you into pieces” if he voted for the TikTok bill.
“These phone calls were from kids and teenagers who couldn’t even vote and they were either threatening suicide or they were threatening to murder the member of Congress.” said Michael Sobolik, senior fellow at American Foreign Policy Council.
Beltway insiders traced the phone offensive to TikTok’s head of public policy, Michael Beckerman – a notorious tech industry operative and ex-GOP Hill staffer who posed for Modern Luxury’s “Men of Style” issue wearing $5,000 shoes in 2014.
The former head of the now-defunct trade group Internet Association, Beckerman joined TikTok in January 2020 and played a key role in shaping its government strategy as calls to ban the app gained steam – even testifying on behalf of the company at a Senate hearing in 2021.
