***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***
It wasn’t long ago that CNN media reporter Brian Stelter was decrying social media platforms like Facebook who weren’t going full bore against President Trump. But during Sunday’s so-called “Reliable Sources,” Stelter found a social media platform he loved: the China-owned video platform TikTok. According to Stelter, one TikTok user’s plan to “sabotage” or “prank” the Trump campaign by bombarding their website with fake requests to attend Saturday’s rally was something to marvel.
“And it seems that one of the other reasons why there were so many empty seats is a no-show protest. A no-show protest,” he touted. “This all started with a video on TikTok created by Mary Jo Laupp, who is effectively being called a ‘TikTok grandma.’ So, she made a video more than a week ago urging viewers to go to Trump's site, sign up to attend the rally, but pointedly not show up at the rally.”
Adding: “And look, it did seem to work to some degree. We don't know exactly how well but Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale was out there talking about how many people were signing up.”
While Stelter was clearly enamored with the effectiveness of the viral TikTok video, it was just a few months ago CNN Business (the branch of CNN Stelter’s beat fell under) warned: “TikTok could threaten national security, US lawmakers say.”
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