Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. This is the fourth installment in a five-part series from Xi Van Fleet and Sasha Gong — both activists, scholars, and survivors of Mao’s communist uprising. In this piece, the authors explain how Democrats’ cringeworthy embrace of foul language is actually a tried-and-true strategy of revolutionary movements — one that Maoists used to frightening effect.
After the 2024 election, Democrats convinced themselves that their problem was not their embrace of divisive radical ideology or failed policies, but poor communication with the people — particularly working-class voters.
Their conclusion was simple: Donald Trump had won over working-class and minority men through vulgarity. If Trump could toss out blunt, unpolished lines, then they believed they could surpass him — and regain an electoral edge — by lacing their speeches with profanity.
Their experiment over the past few months has been awkward at best. Many Democrats now spit out curse words with visible discomfort, as if swearing were a foreign tongue.
With the exception of lawmakers like Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett — a lawyer who seamlessly flits between courtroom diction and a less polished vernacular — most Democrats can’t pull this off. Audiences have noticed the fakery and have been quick to mock the lawmakers and their newfound “edge.”
But something more sinister is afoot with Democrats’ sudden embrace of profanity.
In Mao’s China, where both of us grew up, the first casualty of the Cultural Revolution was not lives, but language. For millennia, Chinese tradition prized harmony, and criticism was expressed through subtlety, suggestion, and indirection.
Then, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution with a short essay in the People’s Daily in which he branded his opponents “poisonous.”
“They have puffed up the arrogance of the bourgeoisie and deflated the morale of the proletariat,” Mao wrote. “How poisonous!” He demanded their purge, hinting even at their physical destruction. Red Guards, intoxicated with revolutionary zeal, followed his lead. And to prove their proletarian authenticity, they laced every sentence with the Chinese equivalent of the F-word, reducing a once-elevated language to a blunt weapon of class struggle.
Crudeness soon became a prerequisite for joining the Red Guards, while proper speech was denounced as bourgeois and unworthy of the revolution. Almost overnight, vulgarity filled big-character posters, leaflets, even newspapers and magazines.
The belief was simple: the cruder the words, the closer one stood to the “chosen people” of the revolution — workers, peasants, and soldiers.
Obscenity fused seamlessly with violence. Students became mobs, hurling profanities as they smashed classrooms, beat teachers, and paraded “class enemies” through the streets. Language collapsed into humiliation, torture, and public killing. For 10 years, Mao’s China lived under obscenity and terror. A generation had its soul poisoned; a civilization’s fabric was shredded.
The revolutionary tradition carries on in China today. More than once, the current Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping has warned that China’s enemies will be reduced to fen shen sui gu — literally, “a body ground into powder and bones smashed to pieces.” If you wonder why Xi speaks with such brutal bluntness and violent vocabulary, the roots lie with Mao.
The Chinese Communists believed that vulgar language could rally the masses into revolutionary action. In practice, it mobilized the worst elements of society. The tragedy was that it never reflected the authentic voice of the working class. Real working people in China, though they might not speak the “King’s Chinese,” cherished the hope that their children would. They understood that education and refinement elevate one’s status. Coarse language, by contrast, chained people to the bottom. As George Bernard Shaw showed in “Pygmalion” —later adapted into the hit musical “My Fair Lady” — speech is the passport to opportunity.
Like Mao, Democrats operate on the same false assumption about their base. Instead of lifting the working class, they trap voters in a linguistic and cultural ghetto, telling themselves that this is what the people want and deserve — all while pretending to champion them.
By forcing obscenities into their speeches, Democratic leaders sound neither authentic nor loyal. They sound desperate.
They have also badly misread Trump. Pseudo-intellectuals assumed the president’s appeal lay in coarseness. In reality, it lay in candor. Trump does not speak from consultant-written scripts. He speaks with raw, sometimes jarring honesty that working people recognize. He stands with the average Joe because, culturally, he is one of them — not by wealth or pedigree, but by instinct.
He talks about jobs, factories, borders, and national pride. He despises management jargon and academic euphemism. His voters love him not for his rough edges, but for his faithfulness to what they live and feel. Democrats may try to imitate populists, but until they truly understand them, they cannot be believed.
Language can heal, elevate, and liberate. Or it can poison, debase, and destroy. In their anti-Trump frenzy, Democrats have humiliated themselves, degraded voters, and poisoned the young. They must stop — or be stopped.
READ MORE:
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/license-to-kill-what-turns-normal-people-to-political-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Maoists, Part I: License To Kill: What Turns Normal People To Political Violence?</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-wheel-of-misfortune-victims-victimhood-and-victimization?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Xi+Van+Fleet+and+Sasha+Gong&amp;category=Opinion&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=The+Wheel+Of+Misfortune%3A+Victims%2C+Victimhood%2C+And+Victimization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Maoists, Part II: The Wheel Of Misfortune: Victims, Victimhood, And Victimization</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/from-red-guard-to-blue-hair-why-leftists-destroy-womanhood?author=Xi+Van+Fleet+and+Sasha+Gong&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=From+Red+Guard+To+Blue+Hair%3A+Why+Leftists+Destroy+Womanhood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Maoists, Part III: From Red Guard To Blue Hair: Why Leftists Destroy Womanhood</a>
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/erasing-history-the-real-cultural-marxism?author=Xi+Van+Fleet+and+Sasha+Gong&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Erasing+History%3A+The+Real+Cultural+Marxism">American Maoists, Part V: Erasing History: The Real Cultural Marxism</a></h4>
Xi Van Fleet is a survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, an activist, and the author of “Mao’s America: A Survivor’s Warning.”
Sasha Gong is a writer, scholar, journalist, and filmmaker. A dissident in Mao’s China, she holds a PhD from Harvard University and was previously Director of the China Branch at Voice of America.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Best Of 2025: Like Communists, Democrats Want To Trap Voters In A Linguistic Ghetto

Chinese Communist Party

Communism

Democrats

Profanity

With growing threats to higher education and state government, Wisconsin Republicans have a plan to put the Badger State at the forefront of combating Chinese Communist Party influence.
Five Wisconsin Republicans unveiled a series of bills this week to keep CCP influence out of state government and institutions of higher education. If the legislative package is passed, national security experts say that Wisconsin would become a state leader in combating China. 
“We can all agree and should be able to rally around the fact that we should not be supporting or doing anything to support organizations, such as the Chinese Communist Party, that seek to undermine the foundational things that make America exceptional,” Senator Patrick Testin told The Daily Wire. 
The bills would block partnerships between the University of Wisconsin system and China, prevent state agencies from contracting with companies controlled by China, ban critical telecommunication companies from using equipment manufactured by foreign adversaries, crack down on transnational repression, target illegal organ harvesting, and protect genetic data from countries like China.
The lawmakers behind the legislative package include Testin, Senator Cory Tomczyk, Representative Daniel Knodl, Representative Clint Moses, and Representative Alex Dallman.
Testin said that the CCP wants “to embed themselves in every element and sector” to “essentially extend their tentacles and their influence.”
The higher education bill would ban the University of Wisconsin from entering into “a collaboration agreement, academic partnership, or research partnership with a college or university based in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, or Qatar,” according to a draft shared with The Daily Wire. 
There would be an exception if a federal law enforcement agency performs a national security assessment. 
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
A recent House <a href="https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-investigative-report-uncovers-billions-in-taxpayer-money-used-to-fund-chinese-military-apparatus">report</a> listed over a dozen Pentagon grants to the university worth tens of millions of dollars that raised concerns over links to China. The university also has relationships with <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250929185535/https://tc.seu.edu.cn/jt_en/2017/1230/c16823a206389/page.htm">Southeast University in Nanjing</a> and <a href="https://alc.wisc.edu/2019/06/18/uw-madison-celebrates-40-year-relationship-with-nanjing-university/">Nanjing University</a>, both of which have been <a href="https://www.civitas.org.uk/content/files/The-Strategic-Dependence-of-UK-Universities-on-China-.pdf">assessed</a> to have medium to high risk in terms of Chinese defense ties. 
Another bill would stop state agencies from contracting with organizations that are headquartered in certain countries, like China, or are controlled or majority-owned by the Chinese government or the CCP. 
A third bill would prohibit “telecommunications providers from purchasing, renting, leasing, obtaining, or maintaining critical telecommunications infrastructure that includes equipment manufactured by a foreign principal of a foreign adversary.”
Another bill aims to protect the genetic data of Americans. It would ban “the use of genetic software from foreign adversaries in medical and research facilities, the storage of any human genome sequencing data within the borders of a foreign adversary.”
State Rep. Clint Moses told The Daily Wire that the intent of that legislation was to ensure that genetic data was not being used for biological warfare or other “nefarious” purposes. 
Another measure part of the package would prohibit “coverage of organ transplantation and related care under health insurance policies and the Medical Assistance program if the organ is transplanted in or originates from a country known to have participated in forced organ harvesting.”
There are between 25,000 and 50,000 people in China every year whose organs are harvested against their will, according to some estimates. 
“When you start looking at what some of these countries are doing, particularly in China, where they’re getting organs for transplant usage, obviously from inmates, prisoners,” Moses said. “I think, [Americans] would find that absolutely shocking and atrocious, because it’s a humanitarian issue. It’s a crime against humanity.”
The final bill in the package would give more teeth to law enforcement in punishing those engaging in transnational repression. Other bills aiming to prevent foreign adversaries from owning land in Wisconsin and to keep Chinese software off state devices are also working their way through the legislature. 
Michael Lucci, the founder of the national security advocacy group State Armor, said that Wisconsin would become the model in the Midwest for targeting China if all of the proposals pass. He said states need to take increasingly strong action to safeguard themselves. 
“Over time, the breadth and scale of the threat has become more apparent and it has grown. It&#8217;s become clear it&#8217;s quite large,” he told The Daily Wire. “Therefore, the American response, which is both federal and state, needs to expand and become more forceful.”

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Crouching Badger, Hidden Dragon: How Wisconsin Republicans Are Fighting China

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University of Wisconsin

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Days after Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, I asked Xi Van Fleet — an activist and survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution — to offer her thoughts on the socialist upstart.
“The danger of Communism is not that it comes all at once,” Van Fleet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-lived-in-the-communist-world-zohran-mamdani-dreams-of-its-worse-than-you-could-imagine?author=Xi+Van+Fleet&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=I+Lived+In+The+Communist+World+Zohran+Mamdani+Dreams+Of.+It%E2%80%99s+Worse+Than+You+Could+Imagine.">wrote</a> in July, “but that it creeps in gradually. I’ve seen where that road leads. And I’m here to say: don’t go down it.”
Now that Mamdani is poised to be the next mayor of New York City, and his future in Democratic politics all but guaranteed, this warning is more important than ever. That’s why The Daily Wire is proud to introduce a new series of essays this week from Van Fleet and Sasha Gong, a scholar and survivor of the Cultural Revolution.
“American Maoists: Warnings From The Cultural Revolution” lays bare the similarities between Chinese communists and American Leftists on everything from political violence to gender insanity.
The result is a chilling and timely warning about the state of American politics. — Tim Rice
*** 
On September 10, the world was shaken by the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a bright star of the conservative grassroots movement. He was gunned down by a 22-year-old man while doing what he always did: engaging students in open debate on a college campus.
An even darker reality followed. While legacy media outlets scrambled to whitewash the murder, social media platforms, especially TikTok, were flooded with posts openly celebrating this unspeakable act of political violence.
How did we reach such a point where assassination is not only excused but openly applauded? And where will this path of legitimized violence take us next? We, two immigrants from China, have seen this descent before. And tragically, we know all too well where it leads.
August 1966 in Mao’s China is forever remembered as Red August, also called the month of Red Terror. Less than three months into the Cultural Revolution, Mao’s indoctrinated Red Guards — youths ranging from college students to even elementary school children — unleashed a wave of political violence against “class enemies” in Metropolitan Beijing.
The Red Terror claimed more than 1,772 lives. Many victims were randomly picked by the mob. This was only the beginning. The violence soon swept across the nation, and by the end of the Cultural Revolution, as many as 20 million had perished.
You may wonder how Mao turned children into killers overnight. But the truth is, he didn’t.
It took nearly two decades of relentless indoctrination in schools and universities — 17 years from the time the communists seized power in 1949 — to mold a generation ready to carry out Mao’s will. At the core of this indoctrination was a single lesson: to love the Party with absolute devotion and to hate its ‘class enemies’ with equal passion — even if those enemies were one’s own parents.
Showing loyalty was the only path to societal recognition and status elevation. The more extreme, the better.
Some in the West may remember Bo Xilai — once a promising contender for the CCP’s top job, until his rival Xi Jinping put him in prison for life. The son of Vice Premier Bo Yibo, Bo Xilai became one of the earliest Red Guard organizers when he was only 17. After so many ordinary people were killed by the Red Guards, Mao turned against his political opponents, the true target of the Cultural Revolution. Among them was Bo’s father. To prove his loyalty, the son took part in the public humiliation and beating of his father, and reportedly broke three of his father’s ribs.
In America, the Left has had even more time — far longer than Mao’s seventeen years — since taking control of the educational system and the media. Their relentless indoctrination and propaganda have now borne the bitter fruit they labored so hard to cultivate.
Although America has not experienced anything on the scale of China’s Cultural Revolution, the soil has been made disturbingly fertile for it. Both the CCP and American Leftists use the same Marxist operating system: pitting the oppressors against the oppressed to divide people and define enemies. Simply by labeling their opponents Hitler, Nazi, Fascists, KKK — all extremists on the left of the political spectrum — they are able to empower the indoctrinated army to take the step to eliminate the threat to their “our democracy.”
When a society accepts, justifies, and even cheers political violence, the license to kill has been granted. In just the past few years, we have witnessed the 2020 BLM and Antifa riots that burned cities and cost dozens of lives, assassination attempts on President Trump, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and escalating attacks on ICE.
The survival of our republic and our civilization depend on us taking away that license to commit violence. Otherwise, we will descend into something akin to Mao’s China.
Xi Van Fleet is a survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, activist, and author of “Mao’s America: A Survivor’s Warning.&#8221;
Sasha Gong is a writer, scholar, journalist, and filmmaker. A dissident in Mao&#8217;s China, she holds a PhD from Harvard University and was previously Director of the China Branch at Voice of America.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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License To Kill: What Turns Normal People To Political Violence?

Political Violence

Zohran Mamdani

Communism may sound appealing to those who have never lived under it. It promises fairness, equality, and justice. But behind the slogans lies a brutal reality: misery, scarcity, and repression. I know this, because I lived it.
Zohran Mamdani, who just won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, is not merely another progressive. He is a full-fledged Communist, as revealed in a recently resurfaced video where he uses unmistakably Marxist language to outline his vision for the city.
This is his plan: seizing the means of production, elevating class consciousness, government-controlled housing, state-run grocery stores, and the redistribution of wealth and “dignity.”
To many, this may sound like abstract political theory. But to me, it’s the nightmare I lived through in Mao’s China.
Take Mamdani’s call to “seize the means of production.” Most Americans have no idea what that really means. It means the government takes ownership of everything: businesses, factories, land, resources, and capital. It means that no one owns anything — not their homes, not their labor, not even their lives. In Maoist China, we were stripped of property and turned into mere tools of the state.
Over time, we became the property of the Communist Party itself. It didn’t just own the “means of production.” It owned us.
<div id="attachment_942335" style="width: 395px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-942335" class="size-large wp-image-942335" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/IMG-2613-385x576.jpg" alt="" width="385" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/IMG-2613-385x576.jpg 385w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/IMG-2613-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/IMG-2613-768x1150.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/IMG-2613-1026x1536.jpg 1026w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/IMG-2613-1368x2048.jpg 1368w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/IMG-2613.jpg 1440w" sizes=" (max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px" />The author dressed as a &#8220;little red guard,&#8221; holding Mao&#8217;s &#8220;little red book&#8221; during the Cultural Revolution (Xi Van Fleet)</div>
Mamdani talks about redistributing wealth — a notion that may sound noble, but in practice leads to ruin. Socialism excels at redistribution but utterly fails at creating wealth. In Mao’s China, the state eventually ran out of resources to distribute, and we were all made equally poor. Yet we were taught to celebrate that poverty, because wealth was portrayed as evil and exploitative — just as Mamdani now claims there should be no billionaires in America.
But poverty was never equal. The Party elites were never hungry, and never deprived. They lived in comfort while the rest of us endured scarcity and fear. That’s what Communist “equality” truly means: enforced misery for the many, privilege for the few. Mamdani grew up enjoying the comfort made possible by the American dream. Now he seeks to dismantle that very dream — not just for New Yorkers, but for all Americans.
He also speaks of “redistributing dignity” — as if dignity is something the government can grant or withhold.
This is a core Communist belief. In America, we understand that dignity does not come from the state; it is inherent, endowed by our Creator, as affirmed in the Declaration of Independence. Just as there is no dignity in slavery, there is none under Communism.
In Mao’s China, we were constantly told to be grateful to the Party for every crumb we received. We were not seen as individuals with rights, but as human resources — tools to be exploited by the state. From a very young age we were taught that each of us was just a tiny screw, and that true happiness came from accepting whatever role the Party assigned us in the big socialist machine. It is hard to speak of dignity under Communism when its very goal is to erase individuality.
In Mao’s China, housing was granted by the state. My family of five was assigned one and a half small rooms. We shared a kitchen and toilet with multiple other families — and we were the lucky ones. Most families had no plumbing at all. There was no privacy. There was no choice. That is what government-run housing looks like — not the idealized version Mamdani promises, but a system in which the state decides what you deserve and where you live.
Mamdani’s plan for government-run grocery cooperatives closely mirrors what I experienced under Communism. In Mao’s China, food distribution was centralized and strictly rationed. The result was chronic scarcity. Shelves were often bare, and long lines were a part of daily life. When the state controls the food supply, it controls people. Hunger becomes a tool of obedience, and survival depends on loyalty to the regime.
What alarms me most is not just how radical a Communist Mamdani is, but that New York City voters chose Communism, knowingly or unknowingly. The voting results show that the majority of his supporters are educated white liberals. They have been indoctrinated by the American education system to reject capitalism and view socialism as compassionate — a cure for all the problems in their city.
My message to them is simple: while capitalism does not guarantee wealth for everyone, socialism guarantees poverty for all — except those in power.
In 2024, the American people rejected Communism by electing President Donald Trump. But the fight is far from over. Communism — disguised as Wokeism — continues to take root, especially in New York.
One of the most prominent Socialists from New York is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In 2022, self-proclaimed socialist Kristen Gonzalez won the state senate seat in District 59. In her victory speech, she declared, “Today we really proved that socialism wins. We are not going anywhere, and we will not stop until we see a socialist slate across this city.” Three years later, we see a socialist poised to become the mayor of the greatest capitalist city in the world.
More than 30 years ago, I escaped Communism by coming to America. I came here for freedom — the very freedom Mamdani now seeks to dismantle. The danger of Communism is not that it comes all at once, but that it creeps in gradually, wrapped in words like “justice” and “equity.” I’ve seen where that road leads. And I’m here to say: don’t go down it.
Let my experience serve as your warning. Communism always promises paradise. But it always delivers misery.
Xi Van Fleet is a survivor of Mao&#8217;s Cultural Revolution, an activist, and author of &#8220;Mao&#8217;s America: A Survivor&#8217;s Warning.&#8221;
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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New York City Mayoral Candidates Campaign Ahead Of Primary Election

I Lived In The Communist World Zohran Mamdani Dreams Of. It’s Worse Than You Could Imagine.

Communist China

New York City

Socialism

Elon Musk and fiscal conservatives are pushing back on President Donald Trump’s new budget bill, warning it could add trillions to the national debt. The White House has officially replaced Pride Month with “Title IX Month,” focusing on protecting women’s sports and spaces. And, two Chinese nationals were arrested for attempting to smuggle a dangerous agricultural pathogen into the United States.
It’s Thursday, June 5, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
 
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-hawks-rejoice-trump-cancels-pride-month-6-5-25/id1576594336?i=1000711363313" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
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<h2>Budget Battles &amp; The &#8216;Big Beautiful Bill&#8217;</h2>
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Topline: The Senate takes up debate of Trump’s budget bill – while Musk raises concern over the massive debt.
 Elon Musk made waves this week with his criticism of President Trump’s big, beautiful bill, and budget hawks couldn’t be happier. 
On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the big beautiful bill would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. The Trump administration says this estimate is wrong — Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought says the CBO is “not using a realistic current policy baseline” and that the bill would actually reduce the debt by $1.4 trillion over 10 years.
Musk, who just stepped back from his government post last week, said Tuesday that the bill was a “disgusting abomination.” Republicans who opposed the bill, like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), quickly joined Musk in slamming the bill. Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee took a different tack, saying that the bill that passed the House was flawed and that the Senate can improve it.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
Democrats joined the fight, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://grabien.com/story?id=530108">highlighting</a> that even “Trump’s buddy” doesn’t like his spending bill. “If even Elon Musk, who’s been part of the whole process and who’s Trump’s buddy, says the bill is bad, you can imagine how bad this bill is.”
Trump defended the bill but stopped short of slamming Elon, instead turning his ire on Senator Paul, saying: “Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!”
Meanwhile, the White House sent Congress a $9.4 billion rescission package. This bill codifies a number of DOGE cuts, including federal funding for PBS and NPR. Members of the House Freedom Caucus are demanding a vote on this package immediately, and both House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) say they’re eager to call a vote on the bill as quickly as possible.
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<h2>Trump Administration Rebrands June</h2>
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Topline: Instead of Pride Month, the Trump White House announced that June will be dedicated to highlighting the protection of women’s spaces.
It’s June in Washington, D.C., but the Pride flags that have become ubiquitous in many of the city’s public spaces are notably absent. Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the White House issued an annual Pride proclamation celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex Pride Month. It hosted a now-infamous Pride celebration on the White House lawn, where a trans-identifying activist drew some serious backlash for posing for topless photos and videos. The White House was heavily decorated with rainbow-colored decor, and Biden and his wife, Jill, mingled with pro-trans activists. 
This year, however, things are looking different. The Daily Wire broke the news that the Department of Education would declare June “Title IX Month” rather than Pride Month. That move is intended to celebrate the 53rd anniversary of Title IX’s passage, and the Education Department plans to spend June highlighting what the Trump administration has done so far to reverse the Biden administration’s weaponization of Title IX. 
And the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating two significant cases that developed under Biden. One of those deals with a little girl who was allegedly forced to share a bed with a boy who identifies as a girl on an overnight trip. The other deals with a boy joining a sorority at the University of Wyoming, living in the sorority house, and ogling girls in their towels.
“The Biden administration just really muddied the waters on Title IX, tried to get all kinds of different things passed through relative to gender identification,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon told The Daily Wire. “That has now been rolled back.&#8221;
The Pentagon announced in January that “identity months” are dead at the Defense Department, and it specifically said Pride Month would not be celebrated anymore. This week, sources tell The Daily Wire that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would order the renaming of a U.S. Navy ship named after gay rights activist Harvey Milk, a Navy veteran who was assassinated in 1978 after being elected to San Francisco&#8217;s Board of Supervisors. He has been repeatedly accused of grooming young boys.
The FBI also startled the world on Monday when it announced that it’s looking for tips on any hospitals, clinics, or practitioners performing transgender surgeries on minors. The bureau promised in a tweet: “We will protect our children and hold accountable those who mutilate them under the guise of gender-affirming care.”
Meanwhile, other Republicans are aggressively messaging against Pride Month and for celebrating traditional values. On Tuesday, Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-IL) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-gop-resolution-declares-june-family-month-instead-of-pride-month">introduced a resolution</a> declaring June “Family Month.&#8221; 
<h2></h2>
<h2>Chinese Nationals Arrested For Smuggling Pathogen</h2>
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Topline: Two Chinese nationals have been arrested for allegedly smuggling a dangerous pathogen into the United States.
This week, we learned that the FBI has arrested two Chinese nationals accused of attempting to smuggle Fusarium graminearum, a dangerous biological pathogen, into the United States. 
One of those individuals, Yunqing Jian, worked as a researcher at the University of Michigan. The FBI says she has expressed loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has received funding from Beijing in the past to study similar pathogens in China. The other individual, her boyfriend Zunyong Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducted similar research. 
According to the DOJ, Liu “made false statements&#8221; to federal authorities &#8220;about the purpose of his visit to the United States, and his knowledge of the existence of the biological pathogen in his possession.” But he later admitted that he planned on using his girlfriend’s access at the University of Michigan to conduct research. 
The two have now been charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud. 
Fusarium graminearum is a noxious fungus that scientists consider a potential agroterrorism weapon. It causes head blight, a fungal disease that spreads among wheat, barley, maize, and rice crops, causing plants to shrivel and die, leaving behind infected kernels that can blow away and spread to the next field. The fungus is responsible for billions of dollars in ruined crops each year. Also, it poses a significant risk to humans and animals, causing vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects if accidentally ingested. 
FBI Director Kash Patel called the incident a “sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences… putting American lives and our economy at serious risk.”
While it’s not yet clear if this was part of a broader effort to unleash a bioweapon on American crops, it is clear that China is using students and researchers to steal American research from universities. In 2019, a Chinese professor at UCLA was convicted of trying to illegally obtain semiconductors with military applications so he could smuggle them back to China. Then, a year later, a Chinese national at <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/harvard-university-professor-and-two-chinese-nationals-charged-three-separate-china-related">Harvard</a> was caught attempting to smuggle 21 vials of cancer research from a medical lab back to China. Similar arrests have been made at the University of Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas A&amp;M.

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Morning Brief: Trump Cancels Pride Month & Elon Musk Trashes Trump’s Bill

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On Wednesday, Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security advanced a number of bills to combat terrorism, strengthen security at the border, and counter the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts against America.
“I am proud of this Committee’s work to advance legislation that protects Americans from growing threats to our homeland and our way of life,” Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) stated. “For far too long, the CCP has tried to influence American higher education, target and harass dissidents on U.S. soil, and infiltrate our critical infrastructure and government networks. Today, this Committee stood up to China, advancing bills from Chairman Pfluger and Rep. Ogles to counter the real and growing threat they pose in our own backyard.”
“We also will not forget the serious threats sparked by the Biden-Harris administration’s historic border crisis. That’s why Committee Republicans advanced bills from Reps. [Marjorie Taylor] Greene and [Clay] Higgins to demand transparency on the number of Special Interest Aliens encountered at our borders and enhance efforts to detect deadly drugs like fentanyl at our land ports of entry,” he continued. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to swiftly pass these bills to increase transparency and give Custom (sic) and Border Protection (CBP) more enforcement tools.”
Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee Chairman Rep. August Pfluger’s (R-TX)  bill, H.R. 881, the “DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act,” would restrict DHS from funding American universities that host a Confucius Institute and require &#8220;certain disclosures related to Chinese entities of concern.&#8221;
Rep. Pfluger also introduced H.R. 2158, the “Countering Transnational Repression Act of 2025,” which would establish a dedicated transnational repression working group with DHS, thus protecting Chinese and Iranian dissidents who voice criticism of their countries’ despotic governments.
Rep. Clay Higgins’ (R-LA) bill, H.R. 1569, the “CATCH Fentanyl Act,” would further empower CBP to test and evaluate new technologies for deployment at U.S. points of entry.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) bill, H.R. 275, the “Special Interest Alien Reporting Act of 2024,” would require DHS to publicly release information monthly on the number of special interest alien encounters.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell’s (R-TX) bill, H.R. 1327, the “Syria Terrorism Threat Assessment Act, would ensure the Department of Homeland Security conducts an assessment of terrorist threats the United States posed by individuals in Syria with an affiliation to a foreign terrorist organization or a specially designated global terrorist organization.
Rep. Andy Ogles’ (R-TN) bill, H.R. 2659, the “Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act,” would target the escalating cybersecurity threats from the Chinese Communist Party and its state-sponsored cyber actors. oil.”

Republican Lawmakers Hold News Conference On Mayorkas Impeachment

House GOP Committee Advances Bills To Protect Homeland

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A former top aide to New York Democrat Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kathy-hochul" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathy Hochul</a> was indicted in federal court this week for allegedly acting as a foreign agent for the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in exchange for millions of dollars.
Linda Sun was indicted on charges of violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy, the DOJ said. Her husband, Chris Hu, was charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and misuse of means of identification.
Sun allegedly acted as a spy for China and the CCP while working for Hochul and in multiple state agencies, prosecutors said.
The DOJ said, &#8220;Acting at the request of PRC government officials and the CCP representatives, Sun engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP, including blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level New York State officers; changing high-level New York State officers’ messaging regarding issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP; obtaining official New York State proclamations for PRC government representatives without proper authorization; attempting to facilitate a trip to the PRC by a high-level New York State politician; and arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with New York State government officials.&#8221;
She allegedly provided improper benefits to Chinese and CCP officials by giving them &#8220;unauthorized invitation letters from the office of high-level New York State officers that were used to facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with New York State government officials.&#8221;
Her invitation letters reportedly facilitated bringing Chinese nationals into the U.S. illegally.
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Investigators said that in return for her spying, she received &#8220;substantial&#8221; benefits, including &#8220;the facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of Hu; travel benefits; tickets to events; promotion of a close family friend’s business; employment for Sun’s cousin in the PRC; and Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a PRC government official’s personal chef that were delivered to the residence of Sun’s parents.&#8221;
Sun and Hu are accused of laundering the money to purchase &#8220;real estate property in Manhasset, New York currently valued at $4.1 million, a condominium in Honolulu, Hawaii currently valued at $2.1 million, and various luxury automobiles, including a 2024 Ferrari.&#8221;

Kathy Hochul

Senior Aide To NY Gov Hochul Charged With Spying For China, Received Millions: Feds

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Chinese Communist secret police have infiltrated the United States. Working through so-called “nonprofits” with pedestrian-sounding names, these operators have set up spy nests and secret police stations, subverting our Republic while exporting Chinese Communist Party (CCP) totalitarianism to American shores.
<a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/07/17/exclusive-red-state-ag-subpoenas-local-chinese-service-center-linked-to-communist-party-intel-arm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Investigative reporting</a> has exposed several of these operations, known as “Overseas Chinese Service Centers (OCSCs), in seven American cities: Charlotte, Omaha, Houston, San Francisco, St. Paul, and St. Louis. Working through these organizations, the CCP can extend its intelligence gathering, <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/China%27s%20Overseas%20United%20Front%20Work%20-%20Background%20and%20Implications%20for%20US_final_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">influence operations</a> and transnational repression activity into virtually any community. 
In St. Louis, Missouri State Attorney General Andrew Bailey has reacted decisively. He launched a legal investigation into the OCSC after finding that it violated Missouri law by <a href="https://ago.mo.gov/attorney-general-bailey-expands-investigation-into-missouri-non-profit-over-alleged-ties-to-peoples-republic-of-china/#:~:text=With%20the%20CID%20issued%20today,organized%20under%20Missouri%20state%20law." target="_blank" rel="noopener">engaging in</a> “deception, fraud, false promises, misrepresentation, unfair practices, and/or the concealment, suppression, or omission of material facts in connection with the solicitation of charitable funds.”
Bailey’s leadership comes at a critical juncture. National security experts have been ringing alarm bells over the CCP&#8217;s vast network of subversive operations against the United States in the American heartland. The OCSCs are a key part of that network.
OCSCs assume the mantle of nonprofit organizations that, on the surface, promote Chinese culture and assist Chinese citizens living abroad. But their strings are pulled by the <a href="https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/press-releases/select-committee-unveils-ccp-influence-memo-united-front-101" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Front Work Department</a> (UFWD), an <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/annual_reports/2016%20Annual%20Report%20to%20Congress.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intelligence service</a> which answers directly to the CCP’s Central Committee in Beijing. In addition to helping steal American intellectual property, United Front operations are heavily engaged in transnational repression.
In April 2023, two men were <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-operating-illegal-overseas-police-station-chinese-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> by the Department of Justice for running a secret police station in New York City under the direction of China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The case shines a light on how Communist Party agents operate on U.S. soil.
All around <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/10/08/chinese-police-station-spies-on-dissenters-linked-to-shady-us-charity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the world,</a> China’s overseas police stations monitor, harass and intimidate dissidents. In some cases, they’ve facilitated the <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/the-long-arm-of-the-lawless-the-prcs-overseas-police-stations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extra-judicial kidnapping</a> of China’s enemies to face the Peoples Republic of China’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2019/10/31/justice-in-china-is-notoriously-harsh-but-reforms-are-afoot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notorious legal system</a>.
One of the New York defendants, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-operating-illegal-overseas-police-station-chinese-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lu Jianwang,</a> organized counter-protests against the Falun Gong on behalf of the MPS during President Xi Jinping’s 2015 visit to Washington, D.C. In 2018, Lu helped pressure a fugitive to return to China by threatening the victim and their family. In 2022, an MPS official tapped Lu to help track down a pro-democracy dissident thought to be living in California.
CCP infiltration extends far beyond secret police stations and the OCSCs. Attorney General Bailey must launch a similar investigation into another CCP operation in Missouri masquerading as a nonprofit: the <a href="https://usheartlandchina.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Heartland China Association</a> (USHCA). When the State Department launched its <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/nsd/information-about-department-justice-s-china-initiative-and-compilation-china-related" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China Initiative</a> to counter Chinese economic espionage and protect critical U.S. infrastructure, the CCP became alarmed at its effectiveness. In response, the USHCA co-hosted an <a href="https://ucausa.org/ucatalks-nov-3-2021-event-return-of-mccarthyism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event</a> in 2021, calling the initiative as the “return of McCarthyism.” USHCA’s manipulation scheme worked. Just months later, the Biden administration <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/02/23/1082593735/justice-department-china-initiative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discontinued</a> the China Initiative amid alleged concern that it was fueling “intolerance and bias against Asian Americans.”
Organizations like the USHCA work hand-in-glove with the Beijing-based Chinese Peoples’ Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), which according to the <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/designation-of-the-national-association-for-chinas-peaceful-unification-nacpu-as-a-foreign-mission-of-the-prc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Department of State</a>, actively seeks to “malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,” and is the party organ “tasked with co-opting and neutralizing threats to the party’s rule and spreading its influence and propaganda overseas.”
<h4><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a></h4>
While Attorney General Bailey is doing what he can within his legal authority to target illegal CCP operations in Missouri, state legislatures around the country must give their attorneys general more tools to deal with this threat. They should start by passing state-level Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) laws that close federal FARA loopholes and help expose the operations of foreign adversaries within the United States. State legislatures should also enact legislation that would enable law enforcement to crack down on transnational repression operations. And, of course, attorneys general must use these tools to take action against <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-95025c52081b9722e5afca23fe0a43b9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">malign influence</a> operations in their respective states.
The myth that China is interested in becoming more friendly and more democratic is falling apart, and we can take some comfort in that. But the CCP is relentless, and the federal government cannot face it down alone. Protecting our homeland from the CCP will demand focus, commitment, and action by our state and local government officials.
 * * *
Michael Lucci is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of State Armor, which he created to develop and enact state solutions to global security threats. Follow him at: @Michael7ucci
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing On Manhattan District Attorney’s Office

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Communist China launched a large-scale military exercise around Taiwan on Thursday, saying it is a &#8220;powerful punishment&#8221; for Taiwan&#8217;s &#8220;separatist acts.&#8221; The drills come just two days after Taiwan swore in its new president Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has labeled a “dangerous separatist.”
China&#8217;s military drills involve fighter jets with live ammunition, destroyers, frigates, and missile speedboats, according to a Chinese state broadcasting network, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/22/asia/china-military-drills-taiwan-punishment-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The fighter jets reportedly carried out mock strikes against “high-value military targets.&#8221; China said the military drills will continue for two days.
Taiwan&#8217;s Defense Ministry called China&#8217;s aggression “irrational provocations and actions that undermine regional peace and stability.” Taiwan is a self-governing island that the Chinese Communist Party claims is part of its territory while continuing to threaten a takeover of the nation home to over 23 million people. Taiwan&#8217;s Defense Ministry said it responded to China&#8217;s hostility by dispatching air, sea, and ground forces, according to CNN.
“We stand by with firm will and restraint. We seek no conflicts, but we will not shy away from one. We have the confidence to safeguard our national security,” the Taiwan Defense Ministry statement added.
Per reports, Taiwan&#8217;s Coast Guard also faced off with a Chinese Navy ship and ordered it to change course.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Taiwan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Taiwan</a>&#8216;s Coast Guard warned a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chinese?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Chinese</a> Navy ship 548 (Type 054A frigate) to change course when it was 24 miles northwest of Pengjia Islet. <a href="https://t.co/be9La7zoGF">pic.twitter.com/be9La7zoGF</a>
— Indo-Pacific News &#8211; Geo-Politics &amp; Defense (@IndoPac_Info) <a href="https://twitter.com/IndoPac_Info/status/1793597614929383622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
President Lai was elected in January and inaugurated on Monday. Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, has been an advocate for Taiwan&#8217;s independence and says that &#8220;Taiwan is already a sovereign, independent country called the Republic of China.&#8221;
The tensions between the CCP and Taiwan also concern U.S. leaders as over 100 American troops are <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/taiwan-acknowledges-presence-of-u-s-troops-on-outlying-islands-c81c3b6b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stationed</a> on the island, providing training for Taiwanese soldiers. While official U.S. policy doesn&#8217;t require the U.S. to come to Taiwan&#8217;s aid if a war breaks out, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/96th-congress/house-bill/2479" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taiwan Relations Act</a> requires the U.S. to &#8220;provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character.&#8221;
Congress recently passed a massive aid package that included upgrading some of Taiwan&#8217;s military equipment and spending billions of dollars on countering China&#8217;s aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-military-assistance-e505267d2fc595be2d45b2e70d6d1ead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
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China&#8217;s aggression toward Taiwan has intensified under President Joe Biden&#8217;s watch as Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping told Biden late last year that China is going to take control of Taiwan. While the president has suggested that the U.S. would help defend Taiwan if China invades, he <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-us-does-not-support-taiwan-independence-2024-01-13/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20Jan%2013%20(Reuters),party%20a%20third%20presidential%20term." target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in January that his administration stands by the decades of U.S. policy that doesn&#8217;t recognize Taiwanese independence.

The two sides clashed with missiles. trade war. Flag of the People’s Republic of China. Flag of the United States. Taiwan flag

China Launches ‘Powerful Punishment’ Military Drills Around Taiwan Days After New Leader Is Sworn In

China Launches 'Powerful Punishment' Military Drills Around Taiwan Days After New Leader Is Sworn In

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A new poll found that more than two-thirds of Americans, a whopping 68%, agree with legislation forcing ByteDance, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist government, to sell its stake in TikTok. That legislation has been passed by the GOP-controlled House and is waiting for Senate passage.
The <a href="https://america2100.org/america-2100-poll-bipartisan-majority-of-americans-support-tiktok-divestment-bill/">poll</a>, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and released by America 2100, also found that 73% of Republicans agreed with the legislation as well as 64% of Democrats and 65% of independents. Seventy-five percent of Trump voters and 67% of Biden voters also agree, and in a telling statistic, 56% of TikTok users echo the sentiment.
“Americans see China for the threat that it is, and they don’t want their social media apps controlled by a hostile foreign adversary,” America 2100 Senior Advisor Nate Hochman stated. “Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats will have to choose between placating a loud, left-wing, TikTok-addicted activist base, and the American majority that wants the Chinese Communist Party out of our tech platforms — and our country.”
News of ByteDance’s involvement with TikTok has apparently spread like wildfire; a massive 84% of Americans know that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company; additionally, 73% are concerned TikTok is owned by China.
On March 13, the House passed the bill that could lead to a ban on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok">TikTok</a> unless ByteDance divested in the popular social media app.
The legislation, known as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” was <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202486">approved by a 352-65 vote</a>. Fifty Democrats and 15 Republicans voted against the measure. 
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The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7521/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> noted that an “entity that violates subsection (a) shall be subject to pay a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed the amount that results from multiplying $5,000 by the number of users within the land or maritime borders of the United States determined to have accessed, maintained, or updated a foreign adversary controlled application as a result of such violation.&#8221; 
<blockquote>It shall be unlawful for an entity to distribute, maintain, or update (or enable the distribution, maintenance, or updating of) a foreign adversary controlled application by carrying out, within the land or maritime borders of the  United States, any of the following: 
Providing services to distribute, maintain, or update such foreign adversary con- trolled application (including any source code of such application) by means of a marketplace (including an online mobile application store) through which users within the land or maritime borders of the United States may access, maintain, or update such application. Providing internet hosting services to enable the distribution, maintenance, or updating of such foreign adversary controlled application for users within the land or maritime borders of the United States.</blockquote>
The penalties could be staggering: TikTok <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/150-m-us-users">boasted</a> in March 2023 that it had 150 million American users.

TikTok

Overwhelming Majority Of Americans Support Legislation That Would Force Chinese Divestment From TikTok, New Survey Finds

Big Tech

On Sunday, House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) offered a defense of the bill <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-bill-that-could-lead-to-u-s-ban-on-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> by the lower chamber last week that could lead to a U.S. ban on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> unless its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, divests in the popular social media app.
&#8220;This Week&#8221; anchor Martha Raddatz asked Turner about the legislation on ABC News, noting that his support for the bill is one area in which he has broken with former President Donald Trump. &#8220;That bill could potentially ban TikTok. You say it’s a national security concern,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I know you had that classified briefing. What can you tell us to make it more clear to Americans why this is a problem?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Turner tells <a href="https://twitter.com/MarthaRaddatz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarthaRaddatz</a> that he doesn’t think Americans will lose their livelihood with bill that would require that the Chinese ownership of TikTok be divested. 
“This is not a ban on TikTok.” <a href="https://t.co/p5kCVrCdGw">https://t.co/p5kCVrCdGw</a> <a href="https://t.co/WQATZTaSft">pic.twitter.com/WQATZTaSft</a>
&mdash; This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1769361271147634798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Turner replied, &#8220;We have to first start with, that China is a country that’s not like us. It’s an authoritarian regime that has self-identified as an adversary to the United States. It has banned Twitter. It has banned Facebook. It has banned YouTube in China.&#8221;
He added, &#8220;It understands the power of social media and social media apps. It certainly seeks in a number of illegal ways to obtain the data of Americans that it can use as part of its perpetration of this greater surveillance society that it uses to control its own population.&#8221;
When Chinese President Xi Jinping stood next to President Vladimir Putin in Russia, Turner continued, &#8220;he openly said it to the world what his intentions were. He said that we, the two of them, are going to bring about change that hasn’t happened in 100 years. That’s the battle between authoritarianism and democracy and that’s certainly what we’re seeing in China’s — both economic, its propaganda and certainly its military buildup that is part of its self-declaration as an adversary of the United States.&#8221;
Raddatz asked the congressman if there is &#8220;recent&#8221; evidence showing that TikTok is sending &#8220;significant&#8221; amounts of data about Americans to the Chinese government.
&#8220;What you see is a structural relationship for which there is not divisions, and there are great concerns about the individuals&#8217; privacy and issues of data between TikTok and the communist Chinese party,&#8221; Turner replied.
&#8220;But what you have even more importantly here is that this is a propaganda tool, these algorithms, this influencing through social apps, being in the hands of a self-declared adversary of the United States, one that has&#8230;banned Twitter, banned Facebook and banned YouTube, understands the use of these tools to be able to manipulate a society, and that’s certainly is one the greatest concerns that we have,&#8221; he said.
The Senate is up next in considering the legislation, which demands ByteDance sell TikTok within 180 days of enactment or risk having the app face a clampdown in the United States. If it were to pass in the upper chamber too, President Joe Biden has <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-tiktok-ban-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he would sign the bill into law.
Raddatz closed out the interview by noting, &#8220;You had a lot of TikTokkers up on the Hill this week who—and TikTok apparently supports a minimum of 224,000 jobs in this country.&#8221; She then asked Turner what he would say to Americans who might lose their livelihood.
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&#8220;I don’t think they’ll lose their livelihood. They have obviously undertaken a livelihood that is communicating to people through social apps and social media, and this is not a ban on TikTok as you know. This is actually a piece of legislation that requires that the Chinese ownership of TikTok be divested so that we would sever that relationship between Chinese ownership, the Chinese government, the Chinese communist party that is of such troubling concerns,&#8221; he replied.
&#8220;And, you know, India has previously banned TikTok over the exact same concerns. These are concerns that as you look at what China is doing around the world, their propagation of a surveillance society, their even illegal means in which they’re acquiring data on Americans and people around the world, their use of propaganda, their own banning of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube because of their concerns of the voices of democracy being heard, you can see what a great concern this is to our country.&#8221;

House Intelligence Chairman Michael Turner

House Intel Chair Defends TikTok Bill, Warns Of Chinese ‘Propaganda Tool’

House Intel Chair Defends TikTok Bill, Warns Of Chinese 'Propaganda Tool'

Mike Turner

Social Media

Top Democrat and Republican senators warned over the weekend that TikTok, the social media app <a href="https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/8/tiktok-china-s-influence-is-right-at-our-fingertips">allegedly</a> controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, is &#8220;the most powerful propaganda tool&#8221; that officials have ever seen.
The remarks from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) and Ranking Member Marco Rubio (R-FL) on CBS News&#8217;s &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; come as the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill this week that would force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to divest its ownership in the company or it will be banned in the U.S.
Warner slammed President Joe Biden&#8217;s presidential campaign for joining TikTok, saying it sent &#8220;a pretty darn mixed message.&#8221;
Warner warned that TikTok poses a threat to the U.S. by collecting Americans&#8217; data and manipulating what they see to turn them against each other.
&#8220;If you don&#8217;t think the Chinese Communist Party can twist that algorithm to make it the news that they see reflective of their views, then I don&#8217;t think you appreciate the nature of the threat,&#8221; Warner said. &#8220;Would the United States ever allow China to buy CBS? I don&#8217;t think they would. And we might have slightly different ways on how we go at this, but we think this is a national security issue.&#8221;
Rubio said people get so hooked on TikTok because its algorithm has a powerful &#8220;recommender engine, which is one of the best in the world.&#8221;
&#8220;That is owned by ByteDance. Under Chinese law, ByteDance must own it,&#8221; Rubio said. &#8220;And the only way that that recommender engine works is if they have access to the data. So it doesn&#8217;t matter who you sell TikTok to, where they&#8217;re headquartered, doesn&#8217;t even matter where they stored the data. As long as ByteDance engineers in China have access to the algorithm — have access to that data — control the algorithm, they have to have access to American data to make it work. And that&#8217;s what we need to confront. That&#8217;s the reality here.&#8221;
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Warner concluded in his warning: &#8220;Manipulating that algorithm can mean what kind of information you&#8217;re going to see. And if you don&#8217;t think that could be used as the most powerful propaganda tool ever, then I don&#8217;t think you appreciate the threat.&#8221;
WATCH:
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Marco Rubio Mark Warner

Top Democrat, Republican Intel Senators Blast TikTok: ‘The Most Powerful Propaganda Tool Ever’

Marco Rubio

Mark Warner

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