Back in June, President Donald Trump was humiliated by TikTok users when they grabbed-up the bulk of the tickets for his Tulsa rally. The result of their efforts was a humiliated Trump speaking to a half-filled hall after bragging about how packed it was going to be — based on those “ticket sales.”
Well, it looks like those “meddling kids” are at it again.
TikTok users have been leaving so many one-star reviews on Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign app since July that Apple had to reset the app’s rating, TechCrunch reports.
According to data from Sensor Tower the TikTok fans posted reviews saying the Trump 2020 app was buggy, glitchy, and that it stole personal information. The last complaint, that it”steals personal information,” appears to be a swipe at Trump’s claims that TikTok relays US user data to the Chinese government.
The review-bombing protest seems to have started back in July, when it was reported TikTok users, inspired by a popular user DeJuan Booker, who started leaving negative reviews in response to the Trump administration’s trashing of the app in public statements. The app’s number of “one-star ratings” jumped from 20,500 to 216,500 between July 7 to July 9.
The review-bombing increased again around the time the US officially sanctioned TikTok with two executive orders by Trump. On August 7, Trump ordered US companies to stop doing business with TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, citing “national security threats.” Trump followed this up with another executive order on August 15, saying TikTok must sell off its US business if it wanted to continue to exist in The United States.
Apple reset the Trump 2020 app’s “star rating” earlier this month, and it now stands at 3.8 (and allegedly falling again).
Trump usually likes to make up silly and juvenile nicknames for people who disagree or oppose him. Strangely enough, he has been mute as far as trying to take the teens head-on. Instead, he seems to be trying to destroy TikTok from behind the scenes via executive orders. TikTok has moved to challenge at least one of the orders in court.
Whether or not Trump is successful in banning TikTok from American shores, it is a pretty safe bet that those internet-savvy teens will find other ways to be a thorn in Trump’s side.
