The woman tapped by President Joe Biden to head his new “Disinformation Governance Board” drew widespread mockery on Twitter after a cringeworthy video surfaced of her singing about things she’s deemed fake news went viral.
Nina Jankowicz, an apparent Harry Potter fan and author of “How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict,” was named this week to head the controversial agency after a stint at the Wilson Center think tank. The video, aired on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” drew guffaws online, with actor James Woods declaring that it belongs in a time capsule and others wondering if it was a parody and pleading in vain to “unsee it.”
This one absolutely has to go into the 2022 Time Capsule. #MinistryOfTruth pic.twitter.com/gww1JncUZW
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 29, 2022
“Information laundering is really quite ferocious,” Jankovic begins, channeling Eliza Doolittle. She sings in rapid-fire show-tune style about Rudy Giuliani spreading “bad information” about Ukraine, “TikTok influencers” denying the perils of COVID-19 and urges all to “not support their lies with our wallet, voice or vote.”
“It’s how you hide a little lie, little lie, it’s how you hide a little lie, little lie,” she sings.
This is #NinaJankowicz , Biden's most recent poor decision, who will head The Department of Homeland Security's Disinformation Governance Board.
It is not a parody of her.
Ir is actually her.
She will police your internet viewing.#MinistryOfTruth #FridayVibes pic.twitter.com/YJmNvIYihc
— Dr. Jimmy Yam (@JimmyJoeYam) April 29, 2022
Online sleuths reported that Jankowicz appears to have been a performer in niche “Wizard Rock” genre, inspired by the “Harry Potter” books and movies. A Wizard Rock fan page cites one such music duo called “The Moaning Myrtles” and names as members Lauren Fairweather and Nina Jankowicz.
Jankowicz in 2020 branded as Russian disinformation the now-authenticated Hunter Biden laptop full of lurid photos and messages, as well as damning email and text correspondence about shady international business dealings that may implicate the Biden family.
The new agency she will head, which has been characterized by conservatives as an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth,” is part of the Department of Homeland Security and will focus on threats posed by Russia.
Jankowicz tweeted on Wednesday that she was “Honored to be serving in the Biden Administration @DHSgov and helping shape our counter-disinformation efforts.”