Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the Biden administration needs to get tougher with China's totalitarian influence around the globe, whether it's dictating monetary policies or stealing the American people's personal data, through deceptive social platforms.
China is "TikToking us," Walberg told Newsmax on Tuesday afternoon, while appearing on "The Chris Salcedo Show" with guest host Joe Pinion.
"We've got to stand up to China," said Walberg, while adding, "we're in a [monetary/data-driven] war, and we need to treat it like a war ... against a key enemy."
To exacerbate his above point, Walberg noted how Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer "brags" of using her own TikTok account, largely for entertainment purposes.
However, published reports have acknowledged that TikTok — which is owned by ByteDance, in association with the Chinese Communist government — has the means to intercept personal data of Americans and other platform users.
Some U.S. lawmakers — such as South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem — have already banned TikTok on government-issued computers, phones, and devices of state employees.
Other American officials must take a similar stance against TikTok, reasoned Walberg.
The Michigan Republican has experience overcoming fruitless squabbles with other U.S. lawmakers — including those within his own party.
When pressed for his reaction to the Senate and House recently passing the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill, Walberg placed the blame squarely on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
From Walberg's perspective, McConnell exhibited a disdain for House Republicans by instructing a faction of GOP senators "to run an end-around" on the government's 2023 budget — knowing the incoming GOP House leadership would have never approved such a massive spending initiative.
The new GOP-led Congress wanted to "start at a point of zero" with budget negotiations, lamented Walberg.
Instead, "we have a bill with lots of pork in it," said Walberg, while adding McConnell and the other non-America First GOP senators seemingly went out of their way to "hurt" the incoming wave of House Republicans.
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