Vice President Kamala Harris seems determined to avoid going on the record with opinions on the trickiest subjects.
At this point, it would seem to be the most likely explanation as to why she’s always giving bizarre, word-salad answers filled with awkward laughter. Either that, or she’s just perpetually unprepared.
During an interview with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the DealBook Summit on Wednesday, the issue of TikTok came up.
“You don’t have a specific view on TikTok itself?” Sorkin asked.
You might think this would be an easy question to answer without talking about U.S. policy towards TikTok. She could have said it is a wildly popular and entertaining app, but there are concerns about misinformation and the impact it is having on users’ mental health, and people should be aware of the risks if they use it.
Instead, she chose to answer the question as though it was about a matter of national security.
“I’m not commenting on that,” Harris responded with a straight face as she shook her head.
Watch the video below:
REPORTER: "You don't have a specific view of TikTok?"
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) November 29, 2023
Kamala Harris, refusing to upset Communist China says, "I'm not commenting on that."
pic.twitter.com/Qr2vrm9JFq
Sorkin then asked, “Are you on TikTok yourself?”
“I am not,” the vice president said.
It didn’t take long until solemness gave way to her trademark, strange laughing she said, “But many of the young people in my family are, I’ll tell you that.”
Yes, using an app that experts worry could have detrimental mental health impacts, and led to people extolling the words of Osama bin Laden is just so funny.
Still, weirder yet, when Sorkin asked if Harris had told her families they should not use the app, she burst into laughter as she said, “You know, you can tell young people in your family all kinds of things to do.”
Again, it is unclear why it is funny that the vice president could warn her family about something and they would just not listen to her, but OK.
It seems there are some geopolitical concerns the administration may have regarding TikTok and officials not upsetting China with how they speak about it, which is not too understandable. If a foreign-based app is pumping dangerous content into the minds of America’s youth, it should be called out.
China would not tolerate it if America had an app that was feeding its citizens information about its human rights abuses and how great free markets and open societies are. So why should the U.S. and its citizens just turn a blind eye to the concerns around TikTok?
Yet, if the concern is in regards to the First Amendment and trying to avoid the appearance of crossing the line there, well that is a bit of a different story. However, just like cigarettes and alcohol have warnings that people ignore at their own risk, there shouldn’t be any issue with government officials telling Americans they are free to use the app but being clear about the concerns and potential risks of using it.