TikTok taps ‘O’ Team

Ex-Obama staffers brought in to head off US ban TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew (near left, testifying last week before Congress) has retained power players from the Obama administration — David Plouffe (upper left) and Jim Messina (lower left) — and ex-Disney m

TikTok has tapped former senior advisers to President Barack Obama and an ex-Disney executive as the wildly popular social media app is trying to avoid a US ban over fears it is being used by China to spy on Americans.

David Plouffe, who managed Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and Jim Messina, who helmed the then-president’s reelection effort in 2012, have been retained by TikTok, according to The Wall Street Journal.

TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, also has hired Zenia Mucha, Disney’s former longtime communications chief, to help it navigate the political and legal minefield, the Journal reported.

Plouffe, Messina and Mucha reportedly were hired to coach TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in the days and weeks leading up to what was the executive’s contentious appearance before Congress.

Despite all the firepower, Chew failed to sway lawmakers in testimony before Congress last week when he denied that Americans’ data was at risk of falling into the hands of the Chinese government and said TikTok is willing to offer “thirdparty monitoring of our source code.”

“Mr. Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said in her opening statement.

TikTok, Plouffe, Messina and Mucha didn’t respond to requests for comment.

TikTok’s move to hire the trio of advisers, who are firmly embedded in the intersection between business and politics, is an indication the Chineseowned tech unicorn that has disrupted the social media space is putting up a fight against bipartisan calls for its banning.

After working in the Obama administration, Plouffe was hired by Uber to help the ride-hailing app in its strategy to sway lawmakers and regulators.

Messina has made frequent appearances on cable news, where he has provided political commentary.

Mucha, who runs her own consultancy firm, worked as a key aide to Disney CEO Robert Iger.