As President Joe Biden threatens to potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. over national security concerns, he embraced another popular app owned by the same Chinese company.
Ednews reports citing NBC News that last week the White House’s official Instagram account posted a flashy video of Biden and former President Barack Obama. In it, a photo of the two of presidents, awash in sparkling confetti, does cartwheels on screen as catchy electronic music plays.
The video, which got nearly 57,000 likes and more than 6,000 comments, was created using the app CapCut, which, like TikTok, is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
According to an NBC News review, the White House video is frame for frame the exact same as a popular CapCut template, although the company’s watermark isn’t visible and the White House’s version appears slightly zoomed in. It is possible to download the template without the watermark. The music — an audio file called "Happy With You" that originated from the TikTok Official Sound Studio — is the same music that accompanies the template.
The White House’s use of CapCut even as TikTok is banned from U.S. government devices underscores the tension between Biden’s professed national security concerns and his political and communications strategies, which is likely only to grow as he’s expected to run for re-election with a robust social media strategy to reach as many Americans as possible.
