By Jesse Pound -
CNBC
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he is gathering a group of investors to try to buy TikTok from its Chinese parent company.
Mnuchin's statements come shortly after the House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that could ban TikTok in the United States unless the
Chinese company ByteDance
sells the popular social network, used by more than 170 million Americans. .
“I think the legislation should be passed and I think [TikTok] should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC's Squawk Box program on Thursday.
“It's a great business and I'm going to get a group together to buy it.”
The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future is uncertain, although President Joe Biden has indicated he will sign the legislation if it passes.
Mnuchin did not specify who the other investors in the deal he is cooking would be.
Mnuchin served as Treasury Secretary under former President Donald Trump, whose Administration also took an antagonistic stance toward TikTok.
But now Trump has changed his position, speaking out openly in recent days against a ban on the platform.