Steven Mnuchin Says He Is Putting Together a Group to Buy TikTok

Former US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to try to buy TikTok, he told CNBC on Thursday.

His comment comes just a day after the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would give the short-video app’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets or face a ban.

TikTok had called the bill a “ban” and urged senators to listen to their constituents before taking any action.

“I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday. “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” he said.

TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, said on Wednesday that the company will exercise its legal rights to prevent a ban.