OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi immediately went viral online after a video clip of her was posted featuring comments about the TikTok video platform.
Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have been debating whether or not to ban the platform from the U.S. or at least force the company to divest itself of any foreign and Chinese oversight and ownership after concerns were raised that Beijing is using it as a massive data collection operation against Americans and other users worldwide.
In particular, the California Democrat turned heads when she used the phrase “tic-tac-toe” during her remarks.
“This is not an attempt to ban TikTok, it’s an attempt to make TikTok better,” Pelosi said. “Tic-tac-toe, a winner.”
Social media users quickly seized on the speech and the segment.
"This is not an attempt to ban TikTok. It's an attempt to make TikTok better. Tic-Tac-Toe. A winner. A winner."
— Rep. Pelosi pic.twitter.com/ExkX6bxz0O
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) March 13, 2024
“Nancy Pelosi soft-launching her new social media video app ‘Tic-Tac-Toe,'” user @tony_magoni wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
X user @hrrcvlt wrote: “how nancy pelosi felt after saying ‘tic tac toe a WINNER,” while sharing a TikTok meme.
how nancy pelosi felt after saying “tic tac toe a WINNER” pic.twitter.com/hJaKVHWZLo
— bailey. (@hrrcvlt) March 13, 2024
And X user @oliviuuuuhh said: “i think nancy pelosi might be confusing tiktok w a game she used to play as a child where she’d scribble onto stone.”
Later, the House voted 352-65 on legislation calling on TikTok to divest of all Chinese ownership and contacts or face a ban in U.S. app stores.
In addition, according to the House Select Committee on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), the bill also gives the president the authority to designate certain apps as “social media applications that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary—per Title 10—and pose a national security risk.”
While 197 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, not all supported it. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), for instance, warned on the X platform: “This bill would open Pandora’s box and create a slippery slope for future government censorship of Americans and our precious First Amendment.”
The bill has now gone to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.
The House on Tuesday voted to approve a resolution asserting that President Joe Biden has instigated the “worst border security crisis” in the nation’s history.
The resolution passed the House by a vote of 226–193. Notably, 14 Democrats joined Republicans in passing the non-binding measure.
Jared Moskowitz, Henry Cuellar, Jared Golden, and Mary Peltolta were among the Democratic representatives who voted in favor of the resolution, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
The resolution explicitly criticized the Biden administration’s border policies, alleging that they have encouraged over 9.3 million illegal migrants to arrive at the U.S. southern border since he assumed office.
Furthermore, it held Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas accountable for his role in aiding Biden in creating what it termed “the worst border security crisis in the nation’s history.”
Last month, the House impeached Mayorkas over his role in facilitating the border crisis, but the Senate has yet to take up the charges. It’s not likely the Democrat-controlled upper chamber will convict, however.
Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) wrote the resolution. She represents a large segment of the Texas-Mexico border.
“This resolution once again brings to light a harrowing reality that under President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas’ watch our nation has witnessed the worst border crisis in American history,” she said on the House floor ahead of the vote.
“The resolution is clear on its demands, it time for this administration to uphold its responsibility,” she continued. “We must initiate asylum cooperative agreements with safer partner countries, employ expedited removal authority judiciously and ensure that those not admissible are detained as federal law requires.”
Some of the policies she advocated for, such as asylum agreements and expedited removal, were broadened during the tenure of former President Donald Trump’s administration.
