Mike Pence’s Policy Shop Launches $2 Million Ad Campaign Urging Schumer to Push TikTok Bill Forward

Former vice president Mike Pence’s policy organization is launching a seven-figure ad campaign pushing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to move the TikTok divestiture legislation to a full floor vote.

Advancing American Freedom, Pence’s 501(c)(4) conservative advocacy group, will be spending $2 million on TV and digital ads in Washington, D.C, and Nevada, Montana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, National Review has learned. Each of those states is home to a Democratic senator up for reelection in 2024, with Montana Senator Jon Tester and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown being particularly vulnerable.

“TikTok is the Chinese Communist Party’s way to feed America’s youth their propaganda and collect data on all TikTok users,” Pence said in a statement provided to National Review.

“Last week, TikTok launched a $2 million ad campaign to stop the legislation that would disentangle the app from the CCP, but AAF is fighting back, launching an ad campaign to urge Congress to get the bill passed and signed into law. We can’t cede our national security to the Chinese Communist Party. The time for the Senate to act is now.”

Pence noted his opposition to TikTok’s current ownership when he announced last month his decision not to endorse former president Donald Trump. Trump came out against the TikTok bill on the grounds that it would benefit Facebook parent company Meta, which Trump called “an enemy of the people.” The comments represent an about face for Trump after his administration previously attempted to force a sale of the platform. Trump announced his position on the bill after meeting with billionaire Club for Growth donor Jeff Yass, an options trader who has a significant stake in TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance.

The AAF ad begins with a clip from Schumer in 2020 touting his opposition to TikTok and noting its ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Next, a barrage of headlines appear showing TikTok’s data-tracking capabilities and ByteDance’s ability to collect the data. Afterwards, Senators Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and Mark Warner (D., Va.) can be seen warning of TikTok’s data collection and propaganda capabilities. The ad ends with a call to action for Schumer to bring the TikTok legislation to a vote.

House lawmakers passed last month a 352-65 a bill designed to facilitate the sale of TikTok from CCP-linked parent company ByteDance to an American company to alleviate national-security concerns surrounding the short-form video platform. The bipartisan bill would ban TikTok from operating in the U.S. if the platform is unable to spin off from ByteDance.

Prior to the house floor vote, TikTok flooded the zone with lobbyists and placed a pop-up notification urging users to call their lawmaker and advocate against the legislation. The lobbying campaign caused lawmakers to be inundated with calls from concerned TikTok users, many of whom were teenagers unaware of the specifics of the legislation. Some members even received graphic threats from callers. TikTok’s push ultimately backfired, and the bill passed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously.

TikTok is widely used by Millennials and Generation Z, and its highly addictive video algorithm has been linked to a range of mental-health issues. A new parents-rights organization has put forward ads focusing on the child welfare concerns surrounding TikTok and its ties to China.