After the Biden administration announced that its Department of Homeland Security would create a Disinformation Governance Board, conservatives reacted with fury over the incipient threat to free speech.
The announcement of the Disinformation Governance Board by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas came a mere two days after news broke that Elon Musk had purchased Twitter.
Republican senators blasted the idea of a Disinformation Governance Board; Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) released a video on Twitter in which he stated:
A lot of people don’t know this yet , but the Department of Homeland Security has just set up a special office that is going to be a speech police. They’re basically going to be focused on misinformation; they announced it yesterday.
This is under the Department of Homeland Security, so instead of the Department of Homeland Security focused on stopping drugs from coming into America, or securing the border, stopping illegal immigration, they’re not going to be focused on that. They’re focused on policing speech, on making sure that people can’t share information or say things that they decide is misinformation. Guys, it’s time to wake up. If you don’t think these people aren’t coming after free speech, if you don’ think they’re not coming after our freedom, you’d better believe it now.
If you didn’t believe these people on the marxist left are coming after your most basic constitutional rights, you better believe it now pic.twitter.com/AsB2Jn3aXj
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 28, 2022
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R) issued a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, snapping, “The Biden Administration has not proven itself to be a credible arbiter of ‘disinformation.’ Instead, it has taken steps to silence information that is unflattering to this Administration under the guise of ‘disinformation.’”
“The fact that a federal department with approximately 240,000 employees would set up a ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ to enforce the government’s judgement of what information is allowed in the public square should frighten anyone who values liberty and understands how crucial free speech is in maintaining that liberty,” he told The Daily Caller.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned, “This is who the government is trying to put in charge of regulating YOUR speech.”
This is who the government is trying to put in charge of regulating YOUR speech. https://t.co/DEUTJomYKm
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 29, 2022
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) fired, “I confess, I at first thought this announcement was satire. Surely, no American administration would ever use the power of government to sit in judgment on the First Amendment speech of its own citizens. Sadly, I was mistaken. Rather than protecting our border or the American homeland, you have chosen to make policing Americans’ speech your priority. This new board is most certainly unconstitutional and should be dissolved immediately.”
Other conservative figures chimed in as well; Chuck Woolery opined, “Democrats who make their living and hold on to power with misinformation have created the department of Misinformation? So you can know the unvarnished truth. Finally we can trust what we hear, not what you see everyday with your own eyes. Take comfort, this will backfire.”
The Democrats who make their living and hold on to power with misinformation have created the department of Misinformation? So you can know the unvarnished truth. Finally we can trust what we hear, not what you see everyday with your own eyes. Take comfort, this will backfire.
— Chuck Woolery (@chuckwoolery) April 28, 2022
Sports maven Clay Travis, noting the seemingly incessant actions by the Biden administration that have torpedoed President Biden’s his popularity, quipped, “It feels like the Biden administration is trying to intentionally tank for the number one pick in the draft.”
Home run @nypost cover today. It feels like the Biden administration is trying to intentionally tank for the number one pick in the draft. pic.twitter.com/Y1V7SHHS4o
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 29, 2022