Senator Rand Paul’s heated opposition to the TikTok ban took the Capitol by surprise last week, but in accordance with insiders, it could possibly be taken as a straightforward case of following the cash – on this case, the cash of the GOP’s top donor, which has $33 billion on the road.
The gentleman from Kentucky – who made his profession partly as a Chinese hawk – surprised colleagues within the Senate last week when he blocked Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri’s hopes of expedited laws to ban TikTok.
“Speech is protected whether you prefer it or not,” Rand said, agreeing to Hawley’s offer as soon as he stopped talking. “Have faith that our desire for freedom is robust enough to last a couple of dance movies.”
Sources say credit for Paul’s passionate speech goes to big GOP donor Jeffrey Yass.
The billionaire CEO of Susquehanna Financial Group gave Paul greater than $10 million as of 2020in accordance with the electoral acts.
His fund also owns a 15% stake in TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, valued at an estimated $33 billion.
While Susquehanna investors generally profit from ByteDance shares, Yass is almost all owner, in accordance with ProPublicawhich last summer published a lengthy article on how Yass managed to avoid $1 billion in taxes through creative trading strategies.
“My opposition to censorship and my unwavering support for the First Amendment are consistent, deeply rooted libertarian beliefs,” Senator Paul said in an announcement to The Post. “Anyone who claims that my positions are industrial has not paid attention to it.”
Yass spokesman declined to comment. A source near Yass notes that he has long been a supporter of libertarian causes — and that these pledges predate any concerns a few TikTok ban.
Nevertheless, Paul’s opposition to Hawley’s TikTok ban generated headers suggesting this may increasingly be the primary time Paul and Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – one other TikTok supporter – have actually agreed to anything.
Paul is not the only conservative in Washington who seems to have Yass’ point.
Last month, David McIntoshpresident of the right-wing Club for Growth, wrote an article “TikTok ban sounds tempting. Here’s why the whole lot is flawedthrough which he argued that a ban is supported by Big Tech and would restrict freedom.
Club for Growth has received nearly $3 million from Yass within the last five years alone, in accordance with the electoral acts.
Also last month, Jennifer Huddleston, a policy researcher on the Cato Institute — where Yass has served on the advisory board since 2001 — wrote in an article for USA Today: “Should the US ban TikTok? Here’s why blocking will not be ideathrough which, like Senator Paul, he argues that the ban “may raise serious questions on the First Amendment rights of American TikTok users.”
Elsewhere John Tamny, VP of FreedomWorks – who received a $15,000 donation from and with Yass was the host of the event on the importance of economic freedom – he argued that banning TikTok could be “dangerous”.
“Why do Americans at all times need to lose their freedom each time politicians detect something they consider a threat?” Tamny writes in an article for Real Clear Markets titled “Representative Mike Gallagher’s attacks on TikTok more dangerous than TikTok“.