Steven Mnuchin putting together investor 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.