Thursday 3 November 2022 01:07 AM Chinese-owned TikTok hires Biden's former campaign national press secretary ... trends now
TikTok has hired President Joe Biden's former campaign national press secretary to 'manage policy communications' for the U.S. and the Americas.
Jamal Brown, who also served as the No. 2 spokesman for the Department of Defense, has joined the video sharing phenomena amid a crackdown on the company for its alleged misuse of U.S. consumer data, posing a national security threat.
The hire is the latest in a pattern of top Hill staffers being snapped up by TikTok parent company ByteDance for its influence operations.
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley told DailyMail.com: 'This sort of cozy relationship between the Biden Defense Department and TikTok is alarming.
'TikTok and their Chinese parent company present a serious national security threat but Joe Biden continues to dither as they gobble up Americans' personal information.
'Get serious: make ByteDance sell TikTok.'
It also comes as FCC commissioner Brendan Carr called on the Biden administration to ban the app in an interview on Tuesday, over concerns it is housing millions of consumers' data on insecure servers in China.
Brown is a well-connected hire for TikTok, which is currently fighting an intense PR battle over its U.S. presence.
Jamal Brown, who served as a press secretary for Joe Biden's 2020 campaign, has been hired by TikTok to work on their communications team
Josh Hawley, senator for Missouri, said the TikTok hire was a sign of the 'cosy' relationship between the Biden administration and TikTok
Brown is well-connected and likely to be busy with the challenges to TikTok's operation in the U.S.
TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is readying for a battle with U.S. regulators
Zhang Yiming, founder and global CEO of ByteDance, attends the World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit on December 17, 2015. The app was launched in 2016
Wisconsin Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher also slammed the hiring moves by the Chinese-owned company.
'This is a shocking example of how the CCP uses the swamp against us,' he told DailyMail.com.
'Given the threat TikTok poses to user privacy and the potential for its algorithm to be manipulated by the CCP at any point to influence American public opinion, we need to ban the app before it is too late.'
Brown served as Biden's national press secretary for his 2020 campaign, after more than six years' experience working in the Obama White House.
During the presidential debates in October 2020 Brown tweeted highlighting his bosses' allegations about Donald Trump's ties to China, used to combat the scandal of First Son Hunter Biden's business deals with Beijing-backed Chinese companies.
'@JoeBiden: 'Russia is paying you a lot. China is paying you a lot. Release your tax returns, or stop talking about corruption.' #Debates2020' he tweeted.
Brown also appeared in TV interviews ahead of the election trying to dismiss the laptop as 'misinformation' – after which DailyMail.com proved it was real.
