Dave Portnoy has claimed that the US government's ban on TikTok reminds him of its response to small business owners during the early weeks of the Covid pandemic.
Speaking before Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to try to delay banning the social platform for 75 days, the Barstool Sports founder angered the government for allowing the situation to escalate to the point that he was briefly taken offline.
Portnoy said: “This whole situation makes me want to throw up.” I really hate it.
'This reminds me of Covid in a way, when the government just cut the legs off so many businesses. “You can't open your doors, you can't do business, we have to protect you.”
'There are so many creators, small businesses that have worked for years, for years to build their livelihoods and their careers on TikTok.
“Finally you succeed and the government says, 'Boop! Sorry, cut off your legs. You're done. We don't trust the Chinese. I know you've been working for three years to build your livelihood, but “You're out of luck, go and try to rebuild on another platform, which is practically impossible. Go and get a normal nine to five.”
Dave Portnoy has claimed the US government's TikTok ban reminds him of the Covid pandemic
The short video app used by 170 million Americans was taken offline for national security reasons.
'That's nonsense, I hate it. Same vibe as Covid. The government playing daddy and all these shitty old congressmen and senators, they have no idea how many people have built their livelihood on TikTok.
“I find it disgusting that they can snap their fingers and ruin these people's lives, basically.”
Portnoy doubled down on his beliefs on Fox's 'Will Cain Show' on Tuesday.
He said: 'I'm very concerned about how many people make a living. It's huge. You can't underestimate that.
“And just to be clear, and there are people who are investing in Meta writing the invoices, it's all pretty confusing.”
The short video app used by 170 million Americans was temporarily taken offline on Saturday night, shortly before a law went into effect on Sunday saying its Chinese owner ByteDance must sell it for national security reasons, or ban it.
TikTok resumed service on Sunday after Trump assured that the company and its partners would not face heavy fines to keep the app up and running.
He then signed an executive order on Monday seeking to delay by 75 days the implementation of the law that was implemented after US officials warned that under the Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk that Americans' data could be misused. .
Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to try to delay the ban by 75 days
TikTok remained unavailable for download on Apple and Android devices in the United States as of Tuesday afternoon.
Some looking to make a quick profit from the desperation of TikTok fans listed devices on eBay with the app supposedly downloaded for up to $50,000.
Trump said Tuesday that he was open to billionaire Elon Musk buying TikTok if the Tesla CEO wanted it.
Bloomberg News reported last week that Chinese officials were in preliminary talks about a possible option to sell TikTok's US operations to Musk, although the company has denied this.
Trump suggested his government should co-own TikTok's U.S. business in exchange for keeping the app alive, and warned he could impose tariffs on China if Beijing did not approve a deal.