It’s that kind of casualness and relatability that has resonated with TikTok users and led to the congressman gaining a significant following of more than two million followers over the past nearly three years.
Beyond alluding to the criticism Alabama Sen. Katie Britt received for her delivery of the GOP’s rebuttal to Biden’s address, Jackson often shares what he’s experienced through his first term in Congress.
Whether it’s the “fake anger” he’s noticing among voices in Congress or being “toast” during the redrawing of North Carolina’s congressional map last year, Jackson often describes current affairs and incorporates videos, like of him boxing, to paint a picture of how he plans “to go after political corruption” if he becomes attorney general.
Still, the congressman was among the 352 members who voted in favor of the legislation that could lead to a nationwide ban of the app, which he has amassed 36 million likes on.
Since the passage of the bill in the House, TikTok users have flooded the comment section in his recent videos, criticizing Jackson for his recent vote and vowing to unfollow him.
The number of followers Jackson has appears to have gone down in recent weeks.
Jackson is not the only House representative who has both taken advantage of the popular app and voted for the bill that could ban it.
Some of these representatives actively use the app to boost their campaigns, while others use it for office communications.
Democratic Reps. Colin Allred of Texas, Adam Schiff of California and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan have all used TikTok as they each campaign for the Senate this year.
Jackson took to the app hours later to explain his vote, saying, “I don’t think TikTok is going to be banned.” The video received several negative comments and has since been deleted on TikTok (it remains on X).
“TikTok may be sold to another company, but it will continue to operate,” Jackson said in the video.
“The bill that just passed the House was about telling TikTok they have to sell to another company.”He also said in a statement, “I’ve said repeatedly that ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, needs to sell their shares.
The best-case scenario is that TikTok continues to operate but is no longer owned – and potentially controlled – by an adversarial government.
That’s exactly what this legislation does.”In an apology video on Saturday, Jackson stated “I did not handle this situation well from top to bottom and that is why I have been completely roasted on this app over the last 48 hours.” He went on to give “more of an explanation” about the bill and his vote in favor of it.
“When I was reading the bill, the part I agreed with was the part that tries to force a sale because I figured this would just be a better app if we didn’t have to worry about the stuff that comes with it being potentially controlled by an adversarial government,” he said.
“The part I didn’t like was the part that threatens a ban.
Half the country is on this app.
It has become a force for good in the lives of millions of people.
So I weighed those two things and the reason I voted for it was because I genuinely believe the chance of a ban is practically zero for a lot of reasons,” Jackson continued.
The congressman’s vote in favor of the TikTok bill comes freshly after a win in the Democratic primary for attorney general of North Carolina last week; Jackson will next face off against a fellow congressman, Republican Dan Bishop, in November.
Some members who voted in favor of the bill believe the US should be able to regulate the technology.
Although state and federal lawmakers have already banned TikTok from government-owned devices, efforts continue to create new legislation that would regulate the app as US officials have warned for years that China’s intelligence laws could enable Beijing to snoop on the user information TikTok collects.
“This is a very close issue and I do not take lightly any adverse action toward a service that is used by over half of all Americans,” Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, whose office uses the app to share information, said in a news release last week.
“For that reason, I believe that divestiture presents the best option to preserve access to the platform, while ameliorating these risks.”The legislative action toward TikTok stems from national security concerns related to its Chinese parent company ByteDance.
If enacted, the bill would give TikTok roughly five months to separate from ByteDance, or else app stores in the United States would be prohibited from hosting the app on their platforms.
The bill would need to pass in both the House and the Senate before it would be sent to the president to be signed into law.
Though it passed in the House with bipartisan support, the legislation’s fate is less than clear in the Senate, w
After a police shooting on Sunday, the suspect wanted in the deaths of a South Carolina paramedic and a state trooper in New Mexico was apprehended, according to authorities.
After leading authorities on a chase that ended with at least one Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy being shot, the suspect, Jaremy Smith, was taken into custody in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, according to the New Mexico State Police.
Authorities said that Smith is suspected of killing Phonesia Machado-Fore, a paramedic from South Carolina, who went missing on Thursday, and of fatally shooting Justin Hare, an officer with the New Mexico State Police, early Friday.
There was a protracted manhunt for the 33-year-old suspect, who was identified by authorities on Saturday. “We are coming for you, Jamie Smith,” New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler had declared at a press conference. “.”.
This image of a suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of an officer was made public by the New Mexico State Police. New Mexico Police Department.
Smith was seen driving in Albuquerque by Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies at around eight in the morning. m. authorities stated local time. According to authorities, Smith led deputies on a chase that resulted in his apprehension.
In a social media post, the agency mentioned a neighborhood in southwest Albuquerque and stated, “The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is currently in the area of Unser and Anderson Hill for a deputy-involved shooting.”. Investigations have been launched by the Multi-Agency Task Force. “.”.
Authorities reported that no deputies suffered any injuries in the incident.
Around five in the morning, Hare was shot and killed. M. 235 miles east of Albuquerque, close to the Texas border, on Friday after responding to a call to assist a disabled driver on Interstate 40 near Tucumcari, officials said.
The suspect got out of the car and came up to the officer’s passenger-side window when Hare arrived behind the disabled BMW, according to Weisler.
At the press conference on Saturday, Weisler stated, “The suspect pulled out a firearm and shot Officer Hare after a brief conversation about fixing his tire and possibly getting a ride back to town.”.
Then, according to Weisler, the suspect moved to the patrol car’s driver’s side and allegedly shot Hare once more. He claimed that Smith had forced Hare into the passenger seat before taking off in the patrol car with the officer who had been fatally injured.
When an officer was dispatched to the scene after Hare failed to respond to multiple attempts to reach him, they observed Hare’s patrol car speeding along an Interstate 40 frontage road, according to Weisler. Hare succeeded in activating a distress signal, which prompted dispatch to receive an emergency signal, according to police.
Eventually, the patrol car was found by police, wrecked and deserted, according to Weisler. At a hospital, Hare was declared dead after being discovered severely hurt by the side of the road.
Investigators discovered that Smith was operating a vehicle owned by Machado-Fore, a paramedic for Florence County Emergency Medical Services, South Carolina, during the course of the investigation, according to the authorities.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office reports that Machado-Fore was reported missing by her family on Friday and was discovered dead outside of Lake View in Dillon County, South Carolina. On Monday, an autopsy is planned.
Weisler said that Smith has ties to the Albuquerque region and a “extensive” criminal history that dates back decades in South Carolina.
Warrants were obtained accusing Smith of killing Hare before he was taken into custody.
