Meta’s stock drops twice after Trump calls Facebook ‘an enemy of the people’

The stock of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, dropped on both days that former President Donald Trump called the social media platform “an enemy of the people.” 

On Monday, Trump did an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” criticizing Facebook after expressing his opposition to a bill going through the House of Representatives that will regulate TikTok. 

“Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it. There are a lot of users,” Trump said. 

“There’s a lot of good and a lot of bad with TikTok. But the thing I don’t like is, without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger. And I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with the media,” he added. 

Meta’s shares dropped by about 4.5 percent to just under $484 on Monday, after Trump’s interview. It was the lowest closing for Meta since last July, Forbes reported. 

On Thursday, a House panel unanimously passed a bill that gives TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, 165 days to sell the social media platform. Lawmakers said the bill could be taken up by the House as early as this week and President Biden told reporters Friday that he would sign the bill if Congress passes it. 

Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020 but was blocked by courts.   

Last week, Trump posted on Truth Social that he opposes the bipartisan TikTok bill.   

“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” he wrote. “I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!” 

Following Trump’s post, Meta’s shares dropped by 1.2 percent on Friday, according to CNN.