'Enemy Of The People': Trump Slams Meta Stock As TikTok Ban Faces Scrutiny

Former President Donald Trump has walked back his stance on banning TikTok as he has a different social media platform in his crosshairs.

What To Know: During his time as president, Trump supported a ban on TikTok, but in a post on Truth Social on Friday, the former president signaled that Meta Platforms Inc META is the real enemy.

"If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business," Trump said in the post.

"I don't want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!"

In a phone interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, Trump reiterated his opposition to a ban of TikTok, noting that Facebook stands to benefit.

“There's a lot of good and a lot of bad with TikTok, but the thing I don't like is without TikTok you can make Facebook bigger. And I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump said.

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The former president told CNBC that he still believes TikTok is a threat to national security and that the U.S. needs to make sure it’s protecting its citizen’s privacy and data rights, but that’s not limited to TikTok, he said.

“If you look at some of our American companies … highly sophisticated companies that you think are American, they're not so American," Trump said. “If China wants anything from them, they will give it. So that's a national security risk also.”

Meta shares fell following Trump’s comments. The stock was down 3.74% at $487.19 at the time of writing. Other social media stocks were facing selling pressure as well, including Snap Inc SNAP, which was down 3.47% at $11.96 at last check.

Trump confirmed that he recently met with billionaire businessman and large GOP donor Jeff Yass, who owns a stake in TikTok, but the former president said TikTok was not among the topics discussed.

Facebook banned Trump in January 2021 following the Capitol riots after the company determined Trump’s posts posed a risk to public safety. Meta reinstated Trump’s account last year, but the former president continues to use his own Truth Social as his preferred means of communication with supporters.

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Photo: Evan El-Amin/Shutterstock