The U.S. is officially on the path to an uncertain future, and we just handed the wheel over to a belligerent toddler, so things are looking especially grim.
With the ascension of Donald Trump to the White House, America enters dangerous waters. It only took a single day for the new U.S. president to pardon thousands of Jan. 6 rioters, withdraw from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord, and declare a national emergency on the southern boarder, and he has plans to lean much harder into his promised plans for the country in the future.
It’s those plans Americans truly fear, as we watch with mounting concern as Trump brings our nation closer — inch by inch — to fascism. He’s got many of the building blocks at his fingertips already, and one TikToker’s astute warning is serving as a reality check for those unconcerned with the president’s broad threats toward our democracy.
German user @mrstrafalgarlaw made her way to TikTok in the days before Trump’s inauguration to deliver a daunting message. Leaning on harsh lessons taught by history, the content creator outlined how vital the TikTok ban — and Trump’s subsequent saving of the app — may be, in the eyes of history, and begged American users to pay attention. She specifically pointed to Trump’s promises regarding TikTok, and — after reminding people that “it was Trump that started all of this” — warned people to be wary if Trump swept in to save the app.
Which is exactly what happened. After signing a 2020 executive order to kill TikTok, Trump reversed on his former stance in 2025 and stepped in, just a few days after the ban went down, to provide an extension for the app. He was thanked by TikTok itself when American users returned, and he’s now happily taking full credit for saving our beloved TikTok.
All of which @mrstrafalgarlaw breezily predicted in her mid-January video, when she warned that “this is exactly what a certain painter from 1933 did back then to get the sympathy of the masses.” Leaning on her reference to Adolf Hiter, the TikToker implored Americans not to “let history repeat itself,” beseeched the nation to avoid sympathizing with Trump, and warned of shifts she predicts will come to the app in coming months.
“This app will be run over by Republican propaganda,” she advised viewers. “Fascist propaganda.” Noting that 1933 Germany’s version of the TikTok ban related to burning books, the TikToker observed that it all revolves around removing access to “information that is not serving their worldview.”
The original TikTok was promptly removed by the app, seemingly reinforcing @mrstrafalgarlaw’s concerns, but by then, it had already made its way to other social media. There, it continued to spread like wild, as people grappled with the very real fear the TikToker’s words ignited in them. Trump’s behavior — not to mention that of the people around him — increasingly smacks of fascism, and it’s terrifying to acknowledge how many elements of history are starting to repeat themselves.
If we see a sudden surge in right-wing content on TikTok, that should absolutely spark concern. It’s up to us, the American people, to stop our nation from taking the wrong route through history, and it just might start here — with a social media app, a government ban, and an aspiring dictator.