In 1980, the book &#8220;Friendly Fascism&#8221; warned that <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=fascism+dailywire&amp;rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS998US998&amp;oq=fascism+dailywire&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l2.2899j0j9&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Government and Big Business</a> would align and join forces in America, suppressing the common man, while ushering in a new era of tyranny wrapped in a false sense of patriotism while being served with a &#8220;smile.&#8221;
Now, newly uncovered emails suggest that the Biden White House pressured Big Tech into a similar form of &#8220;Friendly Fascism&#8221; even more than previously known by targeting private speech under the guise of COVID-19 precautions.
While the U.S. government was apparently coordinating with Big Tech on public-facing social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, there has been scant reporting on how the executive branch wanted personal and encrypted messages censored — until now.
On Friday, investigative journalist David Zweig <a href="https://davidzweig.substack.com/p/biden-white-house-pressured-meta?sd=pf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that he obtained White House emails thanks to the court case Missouri v Biden which showed that only six days into the Biden administration, key high-ranking staffers were already pestering Facebook&#8217;s parent company, Meta, to take action to limit COVID vaccine &#8220;disinformation&#8221; across its platforms — including Meta&#8217;s private messaging app, WhatsApp.
Based on that article, in late March of 2021, Rob Flaherty, Biden&#8217;s White House Director of Digital Strategy, sent Meta an email demanding answers to what the company was doing to prevent certain messages that cast doubt on the COVID vaccine from proliferating on WhatsApp.
&#8220;Flaherty wanted to know what they were doing to reduce harm on the messaging app,&#8221; Zweig reported. &#8220;Seemingly dissatisfied with earlier explanations, on March 22, 2021, he wrote, &#8216;If you can’t see the message, I’m genuinely curious—how do you know what kinds of messages you’ve cut down on?'&#8221;
Unlike Facebook, WhatsApp contains no public-facing aspect of its platform. It is used solely for users to have an encrypted way of communicating with each other. Ninety percent of groups have less than 10 individuals in each group, according to the emails obtained by Zweig.
During the White House&#8217;s email exchanges with the company, Flaherty sent a series of questions, seemingly all related to making sure that Meta could be trusted to limit free speech.
At one point, the WhatsApp representative tried to politely explain to Flaherty how WhatsApp is different from other social media sites, thus negating the need for most moderation efforts as found on other sites.
Flaherty responded he was &#8220;Very aware ☺️&#8221; — replete with a smile emoji, unlike that grin warned about in that 43-year-old book — how the app worked as he tried to bully Big Tech into joining forces with Big Government.
WhatsApp, according to Zweig, had chosen instead to send certain pieces of information to its users to counteract any potentially harmful speech. They also argued that because no &#8220;virality&#8221; was impossible on the application, then they were limiting the spread of unapproved speech that the White House was trying to limit.
By April 2021, the emails indicate that Flaherty was still fed up with Meta for not properly answering his questions.
&#8220;I care mostly about what actions and changes you’re making to ensure you’re not making our country’s vaccine hesitancy problem worse,&#8221; he emailed to Meta at the time. &#8220;I still don’t have a good, empirical answer on how effective you’ve been at reducing the spread of vaccine-skeptical content and misinformation to vaccine fence sitters.&#8221;
Now, why is this important given everything we know from the Twitter Files, the nixed-Government Disinformation Board, and other &#8220;misinformation&#8221; efforts?
For years, Democrats have argued that the ability for lies that could damage the nation to go viral necessitates a close relationship between the government and Big Tech, working hand-in-hand to protect the American public.
WhatsApp, however, is effectively no different than a phone call, email, or a chat at the bar with your friends. What is being said in those messages is none of the government&#8217;s business — so long as it is not encouraging or part of a crime.
Zweig&#8217;s report raises new questions about how far the Biden White House was — or is — willing to go to block speech that it does not approve of. Worse, it seems they&#8217;ll try to trample on private citizens through Big Tech with a smile on their faces — or in their own emails.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT – In this photo illustration taken on July 21, 2022 in Washington, DC, a video tweet from US President Joe Biden is seen on a cell phone, juxtaposed on a computer screen in the background, with a breaking news alert that the President has tested positive for the coronavirus, – The short video clip filmed on a White House balcony, says: “I really appreciate all your inquiries and concern, but I am doing well… it’s going to be OK.” Announcing Biden’s diagnosis, the White House stressed that the president was fully vaccinated and twice boosted, and said he was “experiencing very mild symptoms.”

‘Friendly Fascism’: Biden White House Wanted To Censor Even Private Speech Over COVID Vax

Censorship

COVID

Joe Biden

Twitter

Twitter Files

U.S.

A federal appeals court upheld a lower court decision Thursday which prevented the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> from enforcing a COVID <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/vaccine-mandate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vaccine mandate</a> for federal employees.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued a rare en banc ruling that reversed a prior decision enacted by three judges from the same court, which had upheld the vaccine mandate. A preliminary injunction issued in January 2022 by Judge Jeffrey Brown in the Southern District of Texas was therefore affirmed by the most recent decision.
“We hasten to emphasize that this case only involves a preliminary injunction. The preliminary injunction’s purpose is to maintain the status quo until the parties have the chance to adjudicate the merits,” the <a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/22/22-40043-CV3.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a> said. “When the parties proceed to the merits in the district court, the plaintiffs will have to prove that whatever injunction they request is broad enough to protect against their proven injuries and no broader. And the government will have another chance to show that any permanent injunction should be narrower than the preliminary one.”
Judges from the Fifth Circuit Court noted that both sides will “have to grapple” with the recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-admits-it-will-end-covid-emergency-in-may-in-a-letter-telling-republicans-not-to-end-covid-emergency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> from President Joe Biden revealing that the national emergency issued in response to COVID is slated to end in May. White House officials will reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-covid-response-team-will-disband-in-may-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disband</a> its COVID response team as the national emergency concludes.
The lawsuit against the vaccine mandate for federal employees was filed by Feds for Medical Freedom, a nonprofit that represents government workers across multiple agencies who oppose COVID vaccine mandates and sanctions against those who refuse to be inoculated. “Dedicated public employees have answered the call of duty and served throughout the pandemic, no matter the risk,” the group says on its <a href="https://www.feds4medfreedom.org/who-we-are" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. “We believe that the government should not fire workers because of health conditions or medically-informed health care decisions.”​
Analysts have expressed doubt that vaccine mandates, which were issued in several major cities shortly after the lockdown orders that crippled businesses and shuttered government schools, effectively prevented the transmission of COVID. Researchers at George Mason University recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/citywide-vaccine-mandates-did-nothing-to-stop-spread-of-covid-researchers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">examined</a> vaccine mandates in cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, and Philadelphia, and concluded that there exists “no evidence that the announcement or implementation of indoor vaccine mandates in the cities listed had any significant effect on vaccine uptake,” as well as cases or deaths related to the illness.
The continued legal action over the federal vaccine mandate comes after the Biden administration sought in November 2021 to require companies with more than 100 employees to require COVID vaccinations or weekly testing. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration could have fined businesses as much as $14,000 for each violation.
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The Daily Wire, along with Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Dhillon Law Group and the Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-year-after-supreme-court-struck-down-covid-vax-mandate-freedom-flourishes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> against the Biden administration challenging the mandate, prompting the Supreme Court to rule against the requirement for private employers in January 2022. Major employers such as Starbucks, Intel, and Adidas dropped their vaccine mandates after the decision. “The constitution simply doesn’t grant the federal government the power to insert itself into employment relationships this way,” Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing said at the time. “And even if it did, Congress certainly never delegated that power to OSHA.”

Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Biden Vaccine Mandate For Federal Workers

Court Rules Against Biden Vaccine Mandate For Federal Workers

Biden Administration

COVID-19

COVID-19 Vaccine

Lawsuit

Vaccine Mandate

The White House will reportedly disband its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID </a>response team when the public health emergency ends in May, according to a report.
The Washington Post first reported the news Wednesday evening. The report said that continually decreasing numbers of deaths from COVID, and no surge in cases during the winter months, contributed to the decision. The White House previously announced that the public health emergency would end on May 11.
“As a result of this administration’s historic response to Covid-19, we as a nation are in a safer, better place than we were three years ago,” a senior administration official told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/22/biden-disband-covid-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>. “Covid no longer disrupts our lives because of investments and our efforts to mitigate its worst impacts. Covid is not over, fighting it remains an administration priority, and transitioning out of the emergency phase is the natural evolution of the covid response.”
“We took these jobs with a goal of becoming obsolete,” another official who previously worked on the team said.
Notable among the officials set to depart once the team disbands is national coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. According to the Post, Jha is expected to leave government work entirely. He has been on leave from his post as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health since April, when he joined the COVID team. Some officials have said that the Biden administration could create a new role for him, including head of a newly-created pandemic response office, or simply stay on as COVID coordinator; but other officials said he is not interested.
A number of key officials on the team have previously departed. Jha’s predecessor as COVID response coordinator, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-covid-19-response-coordinator-leaving-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeff Zients</a>, resigned from the post in March 2022. Mary Wall, who served as chief of staff, and communications staffer Subhan Cheema, have both departed.
Other top health officials who worked alongside the team have also left. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-fauci-reveals-he-will-retire-this-year-pursue-next-chapter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Anthony Fauci</a>, the president’s chief medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, retired in December. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/francis-collins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Francis Collins</a>, the director of the National Institutes of Health, retired in December 2021. Vaccine distribution adviser David Kessler also left his post in January, the Post reported.
News of the COVID response team disbanding comes after the White House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-admits-it-will-end-covid-emergency-in-may-in-a-letter-telling-republicans-not-to-end-covid-emergency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> an end to the national and public health emergencies. In a statement of policy from the White House Office of Management and Budget on January 30, the White House admitted that it would file one last extension of the national and public health emergency declarations on April 11, then would end both one month later, on May 11. The memo came in response to two bills in Congress that would force the end of these declarations.
“The COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) were declared by the Trump Administration in 2020,” OMB said in its statement. “They are currently set to expire on March 1 and April 11, respectively. At present, the Administration’s plan is to extend the emergency declarations to May 11, and then end both emergencies on that date. This wind-down would align with the Administration’s previous commitments to give at least 60 days’ notice prior to termination of the PHE.”

Ashish Jha

White House COVID Response Team Will Disband In May: Report

Washington Post

White House

This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
No Manhattan Indictment
Former President Donald Trump will reportedly not be charged today by progressive Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. Daily Wire managing editor Greg Wilson told Afternoon Update:
<blockquote>According to a source close to the matter, the Manhattan Grand Jury is expected to reconvene Wednesday to continue to weigh charges against the former president. The decision was made as law enforcement officials, mostly in New York and D.C., are preparing for potential protests from both sides of the political aisle no matter which way it goes. Trump and his team have long denied any impropriety and argue that the legal precedent is on his side, even if he is indicted.</blockquote>
Russia Claims It Intercepted 2 U.S. B-52 Bombers
Russia says that one of its fighter jets intercepted two U.S. B-52 bombers over the Baltic Sea on Monday, a potential provocation that comes just days after Russian planes forced a U.S. drone into the Black Sea. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pearce told Afternoon Update:
<blockquote>According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a Russian Su-35 was scrambled toward the U.S. planes, which were headed toward Russia, but it returned to its base when the B-52s turned away. The statement was accompanied by footage the ministry said was shot from the Russian plane’s cockpit that appeared to show one of the two American jets. The incident came as Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war. It also followed two Russian nuclear bombers flying over the Sea of Japan for several hours just as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was visiting Ukraine.</blockquote>
Biden Signs COVID Origins Act
President Biden announced this week that he will be declassifying some intelligence related to the origins of the COVID pandemic, just days after Congress unanimously passed legislation forcing the issue. Daily Wire’s Tim Meads reported:
<blockquote>Biden signed Republican Senator Josh Hawley’s COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 into law on Monday, saying that he shares Congress’ goal of releasing “as much information as possible about the origin of the virus.” However, Biden added that he may have portions of the intelligence redacted for the purpose of protecting U.S. national security. Hawley called the move a “huge victory for transparency,” adding that it’s “now time for accountability.” It’s unclear when the Origins report will be released.</blockquote>
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Los Angeles School Workers Strike
Los Angeles public school classes were canceled last minute due to a school worker union strike that began today. The union represents about 30,000 school custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and other school support staff. Even though this is a school worker strike rather than a teacher strike, LA’s major teacher&#8217;s union, United Teachers Los Angeles, joined in. That forced the school district to abruptly cancel classes this morning.
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

Tuesday stock photo

Tuesday Afternoon Update: No Manhattan Indictment, L.A. School Worker Strike, Biden Signs COVID Origins Act

Alvin Bragg

Donald Trump

General

Los Angeles

Manhattan

Morning Wire

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President Joe Biden announced this week that he will be declassifying intelligence related to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, just days after Congress unanimously passed legislation forcing the issue.
Biden signed Sen. Josh Hawley&#8217;s (R-MO) “COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023” into law on Monday, saying that he shares &#8220;Congress’s goal of releasing as much information as possible about the origin of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19).&#8221;
&#8220;We need to get to the bottom of COVID-19’s origins to help ensure we can better prevent future pandemics,&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID–19’s origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.&#8221;
However, Biden added that he may have portions of the intelligence redacted for the purpose of protecting U.S. national security.
&#8220;In implementing this legislation, my Administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible, consistent with my constitutional authority to protect against the disclosure of information that would harm national security,&#8221; Biden said.
Hawley responded on Twitter,  &#8220;Today President Biden finally signed my bill to declassify what the government knows about Covid origins.&#8221;
&#8220;Let the people see for themselves!&#8221; he added. &#8220;Huge victory for transparency. Now time for accountability.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Huge victory for transparency. Now time for accountability
&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1637935519060615168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

President Biden And First Lady Hosts Nowruz Celebration At White House Along With VP Harris And First Gentleman

Biden Releases Statement About Declassifying Intelligence On Origins Of COVID-19 Pandemic

China

Communist China

National Security

Pandemic

World

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tom-cotton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Cotton</a> (R-AR) said during an interview over the weekend that he expects President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> to sign legislation that was unanimously passed by Congress to declassify U.S. intelligence on the origins of the COVID pandemic.
&#8220;I do think he&#8217;ll sign it,&#8221; Cotton told Maria Bartiomo during a Sunday interview on Fox News. &#8220;I suspect they&#8217;re trying to get their ducks in a row on what they will and will not release.&#8221;
&#8220;But what I can tell you is the observations I made on your show now three years ago, and ever since then, have been based not really on any kind of classified intelligence, but just common sense and the facts in front of our faces,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I think any farmer or trucker in Arkansas with an ounce of common sense will tell you this virus almost certainly came from those labs, and a large majority of Americans now believe that as well.&#8221;
&#8220;The Biden administration simply doesn&#8217;t want to align itself with that view, they want to continue to stress the uncertainty or the lack of direct evidence — which we may never have, because China has covered it up — because they don&#8217;t want to be forced to take action to hold China accountable for unleashing this plague on the world,&#8221; he added.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="March 19, 2023: Cotton joins Sunday Morning Futures" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TUmEHqbS89o?start=3&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: Joining me right now is the man who first alerted the public to the probability that COVID-19 escaped from the Wuhan lab on this program, back in March of 2020. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is here. He sits on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees and Senator it&#8217;s always a pleasure. Thanks very much for being here.
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Thank you, Maria; it&#8217;s good to be back on with you.
BARTIROMO: Do you expect the President to sign that bill to declassify the intelligence around COVID-19?
COTTON: I do think he&#8217;ll sign it, Maria. I suspect they&#8217;re trying to get their ducks in a row on what they will and will not release. But what I can tell you is the observations I made on your show now three years ago, and ever since then, have been based not really on any kind of classified intelligence, but just common sense and the facts in front of our faces. I think any farmer or trucker in Arkansas with an ounce of common sense will tell you this virus almost certainly came from those labs, and a large majority of Americans now believe that as well. The Biden administration simply doesn&#8217;t want to align itself with that view, they want to continue to stress the uncertainty or the lack of direct evidence — which we may never have, because China has covered it up — because they don&#8217;t want to be forced to take action to hold China accountable for unleashing this plague on the world.</blockquote>

Tom Cotton

Tom Cotton Weighs In On Whether Biden Will Sign Bill To Declassify Intelligence On Pandemic Origins

Executive

Politics

White House Press Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/karine-jean-pierre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karine Jean-Pierre</a> said Thursday that President Joe Biden has made no decision on whether he will sign into law a bill declassifying intelligence on the origins of the COVID pandemic that was unanimously passed in both chambers of Congress.
The legislation was introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and has been fiercely opposed by communist China, which has <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-responds-china-opposition-covid-origins-bill-time-come-clean" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressured</a> him to abandon the legislation.
Jean-Pierre said that the administration was &#8220;looking at it&#8221; when asked by a reporter about the matter during a press briefing.
&#8220;And, as you know, just months after the president came into office, he asked his intelligence community to double down and to take a look of the, of, uh, the origins, of the COVID origins because we believe it&#8217;s important to get to the bottom of this,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And to get in also, if once we have, once the Intelligence Committee has made the, made their assessments clearly, we would share that with the public. As it relates to the legislation, we&#8217;re going to continue to, we&#8217;re going to take a look at it, and certainly we&#8217;ll have more to share.&#8221;
When asked if a decision has been made, Jean-Pierre responded, &#8220;No, we&#8217;re just taking a look, we&#8217;re taking a look into the — into the bill.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“I wonder if you do have an answer now as to whether or not the president will sign the covid origins intelligence bill that was unanimously passed?&quot;
KJP: *dodges* <a href="https://t.co/OJGScVbzo2">pic.twitter.com/OJGScVbzo2</a>
&mdash; Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) <a href="https://twitter.com/WarMachineRR/status/1636446372546113543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>REPORTER: I wonder if you do have an answer now as to whether or not the President will sign the COVID origins intelligence bill that was unanimously passed?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: So, we are, thank you for the question. I know I was asked about it, I believe on the plane on Monday, as you just mentioned, so we&#8217;re looking at it. We have continued to share information with members of Congress. And, as you know, just months after the President came into office, he asked his intelligence community to double down and to take a look of the, of, uh, the origins, of the COVID origins because we believe it&#8217;s important to get to the bottom of this. And to get in also, if once we have, once the Intelligence Committee has made the, made their assessments clearly, we would share that with the public. As it relates to the legislation, we&#8217;re going to continue to, we&#8217;re going to take a look at it, and certainly we&#8217;ll have more to share.
REPORTER: You haven&#8217;t a decision whether to&#8211;?
JEAN-PIERRE: No, we&#8217;re just taking a look, we&#8217;re taking a look into the into the bill.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bill-to-declassify-intel-on-covid-origins-heads-to-bidens-desk-after-house-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House Votes 419-0 To Declassify All Intel On COVID Origins</a>

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Holds Daily Media Briefing

Jean-Pierre: ‘No’ Decision On If Biden Will Sign Unanimously Passed Bill To Declassify COVID Origins Intel

Karine Jean-Pierre

Author and podcast host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sam-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Harris</a> said author and Daily Wire host Candace Owens &#8220;should not&#8221; have opinions on subjects like the vaccine, climate change, or the war in Ukraine, adding that people should also not listen to her about such matters.
Harris seemed to deem the mother-of-two unworthy of having her own opinions on issues he often speaks about because she&#8217;s not an &#8220;expert.&#8221; Owens recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/candace/ep-100-sam-harris-and-the-intellectual-dark-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called out Harris</a> and other self-described intellectuals for discouraging people from doing their own research and only relying on the so-called experts.
&#8220;We&#8217;re swimming in a sea of misinformation, where you&#8217;ve got people who are moving the opinions of millions of others who should not have an opinion on these topics,&#8221; Harris said. &#8220;There is no scenario in which you should be getting your opinion about vaccine safety, or climate change, or the war in Ukraine, or anything else we might want to talk about, from Candace Owens.&#8221;
&#8220;She&#8217;s not a relevant expert on any of those topics, and what&#8217;s more is that she doesn&#8217;t seem to care,&#8221; he accused. &#8220;And she&#8217;s living in a culture that has amplified that ‘not caring’ into a business model, an effective business model. And there&#8217;s something very Trumpian about all that.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Sam Harris says <a href="https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RealCandaceO</a> isn&#39;t worthy of having opinions on vaccines or climate change. 
What Sam fails to realize is that Candace arrives at her opinions based on conversations with experts like <a href="https://twitter.com/RWMaloneMD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RWMaloneMD</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShellenbergerMD</a> 
Why does Sam feel he deserves an opinion? <a href="https://t.co/OhWWnkBsE0">pic.twitter.com/OhWWnkBsE0</a>
&mdash; Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) <a href="https://twitter.com/MythinformedMKE/status/1636014784167440387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Owens shot back at Harris on Wednesday, writing, &#8220;You heard him! Unless you are an &#8216;expert,&#8217; you are not at all entitled to have an opinion about anything. Even the drugs that those who are motivated by profit are telling you to take. Even the manner in which your hard earned money is being spent overseas.&#8221;
&#8220;No opinions, please!&#8221; the BLEXIT founder emphasized.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
You heard him! Unless you are an “expert”you are not at all entitled to have an opinion about anything. Even the drugs that those who are motivated by profit are telling you to take. Even the manner in which your hard earned money is being spent overseas. No opinions, please! <a href="https://t.co/EnQzrNj1OX">https://t.co/EnQzrNj1OX</a>
&mdash; Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1636020134618824705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Owens last month <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/candace/ep-100-sam-harris-and-the-intellectual-dark-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called out Harris</a> for discouraging people from doing their own research and read a number of quotes from conservative author Thomas Sowell she found applicable, such as the following: “People who have acquired academic degrees, without acquiring many economically meaningful skills, not only face personal disappointment and disaffection with society, but also have often become negative factors in the economy and even sources of danger [&#8230;].&#8221;
This is not the first time Harris has attacked Owens, previously calling the conservative a &#8220;blowhard and ignoramus.&#8221; 
&#8220;[Sam Harris], you called me a &#8216;blowhard and ignoramus&#8217; because of my COVID stance,&#8221; Owens, an early opponent of lockdown measures, responded to Harris last year. &#8220;Turns out you were sorely wrong but too convinced by your education to see what was plainly obvious. Free speech keeps society safe from arrogant pricks.&#8221;
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As a reminder, <a href="https://twitter.com/SamHarrisOrg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SamHarrisOrg</a>, you called me a “blowhard and ignoramus” because of my covid stance.
Turns out you were sorely wrong but too convinced by your education to see what was plainly obvious. 
Free speech keeps society safe from arrogant pricks.<a href="https://t.co/deHAXIYNUC">https://t.co/deHAXIYNUC</a>
&mdash; Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1594720994370936834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Harris was a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/malone-interview-owens-reveals-sam-harris-phone-call-as-pair-discuss-godlessness-and-pandemic-panic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID alarmist</a> who <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/podcaster-sam-harris-covid-killed-children-f-ing-patience-vaccine-skeptics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed intolerance</a> for people who do not want to get vaccinated against COVID. He famously complained about low vaccine compliance earlier this year, suggesting there could be harsher mandate measures if COVID were more dangerous to children.
&#8220;The patience &#8212; there would&#8217;ve been no f***ing patience for vaccine skepticism, right,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And everyone would&#8217;ve recognized, this is not my body, my choice. This is you&#8217;re not gonna kill my kids with your ignorance.&#8221;
Owens last year, while <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/malone-interview-owens-reveals-sam-harris-phone-call-as-pair-discuss-godlessness-and-pandemic-panic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speaking to Dr. Robert Malone</a>, a vaccine scientist who worked on the development of mRNA technology, said Harris called her at the start of the pandemic in sheer panic.
“I do not say this to knock him at all, it was just something that stuck with me for a very long time,” Owens said, recalling the phone call. “He sounded like he was in a bunker, and was just like, ‘You don’t understand, there’s going to be gurneys in the streets,’ and, ‘I know doctors in Italy, this is what’s going to happen in two weeks in the United States.’”
“He was in a mania,” she continued. “I just sort of listened to him, because, in my head, I wanted to be kind, but I was looking at my husband, thinking, this man needs a therapist. &#8230; He was unstable &#8212; and this is a smart person who got himself into this position.”
“I think it’s probably relevant that he’s an atheist,” Owens later asserted, to which Dr. Malone agreed. Religious people, the scientist said, have a stronger sense of community, which grounds them and makes them less likely to fall into a “psychosis” or panic about an issue, including COVID.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/malone-interview-owens-reveals-sam-harris-phone-call-as-pair-discuss-godlessness-and-pandemic-panic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Owens Reveals Sam Harris Phone Call As Pair Discuss Godlessness And Pandemic Panic </a>

“Candace” Hosted By Candace Owens

Sam Harris Suggests Candace Owens Unworthy Of Having Opinions On Vaccine, Climate. Owens Responds.

Candace Owens

Climate Change

Sam Harris

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sunny-hostin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunny Hostin</a> of “The View” said on Tuesday that she&#8217;s &#8220;conflicted over this pandemic,” admitting that teens, including her own, were &#8220;having a mental health crisis&#8221; after being locked away.
During &#8220;<a href="https://grabien.com/file.php?id=1845243" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The View</a>&#8221; on Tuesday, the co-hosts were discussing deaths related to the pandemic when Hostin said that — despite what people are saying — the pandemic isn&#8217;t over.
&#8220;I&#8217;m conflicted over this pandemic, which people say it&#8217;s totally over,&#8221; the ABC talk show host said. &#8220;But there are like 1,000 people dying from it still every day.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m a little nervous because teens are in a lot of trouble,&#8221; she added. &#8220;There&#8217;s a mental health crisis. I&#8217;ve seen it in my children.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;re in trouble now because they don’t know how to speak to each other and they were, you know, out of school and they were home-bound,&#8221; Hostin continued.
WATCH:
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Sunny Hostin: &quot;This pandemic&#8230;people say it&#39;s totally over, but there are like 1,000 people dying from it still every day&#8230;&quot; <a href="https://t.co/iYDNEbaVfo">pic.twitter.com/iYDNEbaVfo</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1635663123213426688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Fox News Contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier retweeted the clip of Hostin making the death claim and accused the ABC daytime show of pushing misinformation.
&#8220;Where is the misinformation police when it comes to The View spreading false data?&#8221; Saphier <a href="https://twitter.com/NBSaphierMD/status/1635694962246574080?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. &#8220;The CDC tracker shows an average of 250 daily deaths now, a number which is known to be inflated 20-40% by overcounting deaths attributed to COVID.&#8221;
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During the last three years, Hostin has been a strong advocate of vaccines, masks, and even school lockdowns forcing kids to stay at home for remote learning.
In April 2022, the co-host said that governments needed to enact &#8220;mask mandates&#8221; because &#8220;people just aren&#8217;t great people,&#8221; as previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/people-just-arent-great-people-sunny-hostin-on-why-mask-mandates-are-needed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
In January 2022, Hostin joined with her co-hosts in defending Chicago teachers who didn&#8217;t want to return to the classroom due to the pandemic, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/the-view-puts-up-defense-chicago-teachers-refusing-return-in-person-instruction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> noted.
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CHICAGO SCHOOLS CLOSED OVER COVID STANDOFF: Officials canceled classes for hundreds of thousands of public school students after a standoff between the mayor and the teachers union over whether in-person learning was safer — <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheView?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheView</a> panel weighs in. <a href="https://t.co/2WkMQZT4CL">https://t.co/2WkMQZT4CL</a> <a href="https://t.co/5yNALvrwTi">pic.twitter.com/5yNALvrwTi</a>
&mdash; The View (@TheView) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1479154924806098947?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Our teachers are underpaid, they&#8217;re overworked, they have a right to be safe in their work environment,&#8221; Hostin said. &#8220;A thousand kids have died from COVID. My understanding is that at least 7.8 million children have caught COVID since the pandemic started. Thousands of children have been orphaned because of COVID.&#8221;
&#8220;The notion that, you know, teachers should just suck it up and go to work, I think it&#8217;s ridiculous,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Yes, I totally understand that remote learning is very difficult for our children. … What if our teachers get sick and then bring it home to someone that they&#8217;re living with, their parents perhaps. … I think they&#8217;re doing the right thing.&#8221;
A year before, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sunny-hostin-supports-vaccine-passports-shun-those-that-refuse-to-get-vaccinated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hostin</a> said it was fine to &#8220;shun&#8221; people who refused to get the COVID vaccine as she voiced her support for vaccine passports.

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Sunny Hostin Says She’s ‘Conflicted Over This Pandemic,’ Admits Teens Are ‘Having A Mental Health Crisis’ Now

Sunny Hostin Says She’s ‘Conflicted Over Pandemic,’ Admits Teens Are ‘Having A Mental Health Crisis’ Now

Anxiety

Entertainment

Sunny Hostin

The View

Actress <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Tilda Swinton</a> said she’s fed up with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19">COVID</a> protocols on set and won’t abide by them anymore.
The 62-year-old British actress made the comments during a keynote address at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, on Monday.
“We&#8217;ve had different challenges in the last few years particularly, and some of them are lingering around people&#8217;s belief in sitting in big spaces,” Swinton began, per <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11856907/Tilda-Swinton-pandemic-protocols-film-sets-despite-having-long-COVID-months.html">The Daily Mail</a>.
“Look at you. I bet none of you are wearing masks, as well. I mean, who knew that was going to be possible?” she continued. “There was a time &#8230; I mean, in Texas, did people even wear masks? I have to ask … I don&#8217;t know, it&#8217;s a wide world and people do things differently all over.”
The Academy Award winner followed up by discussing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mask-mandate">masking protocols</a> that will be in place on the set of her new movie and how she’s choosing to ignore them.
“I’m actually just about to start shooting a picture in Ireland, and I was told — full disclosure, and I&#8217;m sure this is being recorded and people in Ireland might hear it — to wear a mask at all times, and I’m not wearing a mask because I&#8217;m super healthy and I&#8217;ve had COVID so many times and I&#8217;m so full of antibodies and I have faith,” Swinton said.
The actress previously described her experience with having COVID, which left her in bed for three weeks and feeling the effects long after that.
“I was coughing like an old gentleman who smoked a pipe for 70 years, and had nasty vertigo. I got off relatively lightly, but the worst thing is how it affected my brain,” she told The Guardian during an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/07/tilda-swinton-my-ambition-was-always-about-having-a-house-by-the-sea-and-some-dogs">interview</a> in January 2022.
“I did two films that I had to learn a lot of text for. One was the Wes Anderson and he likes you to speak like a speeding train,&#8221; Swinton continued. “I’m normally quite quick at studying, and picking stuff up, but this was like chewing a really big piece of gum. I couldn’t remember my lines.”
Several other celebrities, including Fran Drescher and Woody Harrelson, have also recently voiced their disagreement with ongoing COVID protocols in Hollywood. 
Drescher said in February that she doesn’t believe vaccine mandates are necessary. Harrelson called COVID protocol “nonsense” and said the Hollywood community needs to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woody-harrelson-blasts-covid-mandates-nobody-has-the-right-to-demand-that-youre-forced-to-comply">stop forcing vaccination</a>. 
“That’s not a free country,” the actor insisted.

59th New York Film Festival – Memoria

Tilda Swinton Refuses To Wear A Mask On Set Despite Protocol, Explains: ‘I Have Faith’

Tilda Swinton Refuses To Wear A Mask On Set Despite Protocol, Explains: 'I Have Faith'

Mask Mandate

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> voted overwhelmingly on Friday morning to approve the declassification of all <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> intelligence on the origins of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a>.
The House voted 419-0 in favor of the bipartisan measure, according to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/10/covid-origins-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axios</a>. The Senate voted unanimously last week to approve a similar measure. The bill would require the declassification and release of all intelligence related to the origins of COVID and the virus’ possible connections to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) within 90 days of receiving the president’s signature.
The Department of Energy and FBI both delivered assessments recently that concluded that COVID most likely originated in a leak from the Wuhan lab. The theory, known as the lab leak hypothesis and pursued by Republicans, was dismissed as a conspiracy theory early on in the pandemic by top medical and science officials, including former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci.
Investigations into the origin of COVID have been hampered by China, which has rebuffed requests for information and access for investigators. Beijing has floated that COVID did not originate in Wuhan at all, and instead is a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/world/asia/coronavirus-china-conspiracy-theory.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">creation</a> of the U.S. military.
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Many Republicans have continued to push the lab leak theory as the most likely origin of the pandemic virus that killed millions globally.
“The American public deserves answers to every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic, including how this virus was created and specifically, whether it was a natural occurrence of was the result of a lab-related event,” said Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-dems-gop-vote-unanimously-declassify-covid-origins-intel-send-bill-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
“The House intelligence committee, which oversees our intelligence community, is aware of classified information that could help inform the public why COVID-19 as a lab leak theory is not just a possibility, but approaches the idea that it is likely,” he continued.
The Department of Energy, with its <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/the-energy-department-lab-investigating-covid-knows-what-its-talking-about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">network</a> of national laboratories and specialists in biological weapons, is the latest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community to determine that the likeliest origin of COVID is a lab-related incident. Last month, the department reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-intel-prompts-energy-dept-to-assess-covid-likely-leaked-from-wuhan-lab-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shifted</a> its conclusion from undecided to “low confidence” in the lab leak hypothesis with new information, though it is unclear what that new information is.
The FBI assessed in 2021 that the lab leak theory is most likely the correct theory with “moderate confidence.”
The National Intelligence Council and four agencies have ruled against the lab leak theory in favor of the natural emergence hypothesis that says COVID originated in an animal species and somehow made its way into humanity.

House Votes 419-0 To Declassify All Intel On COVID Origins

Bill To Declassify Intel On COVID Origins Heads To Biden’s Desk After House Vote

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington D.C.

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> has asked for millions in taxpayer dollars to go toward “pandemic preparedness” and “global health security,” even as the origins of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a> have come under scrutiny from lawmakers in recent days. 
In his proposed budget for fiscal year 2024, Biden asks for $10.9 billion to go toward “global health and health security challenges.” 
“This includes over $1.2 billion to prepare for, prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks — including by expanding U.S. bilateral partnerships with countries to improve health security capacity,” Biden’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/budget_fy2024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed budget</a> reads. 
Included in this $1.2 billion is $500 million for “the Pandemic Fund” with the purpose of increasing preparation for a pandemic on a global scale. The Pandemic Fund is an international <a href="https://fiftrustee.worldbank.org/en/about/unit/dfi/fiftrustee/fund-detail/pppr#2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fund run</a> by the World Bank, with funding from across the globe. The U.S. provides more money for the fund, which was launched in November 2022, than any other country. 
Last year Biden also proposed billions in funding for “pandemic preparedness,” saying that the money was needed to prepare for future threats. 
“While combating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the United States must catalyze advances in science, technology, and core capabilities to prepare the Nation for the next biological threat and strengthen U.S. and global health security,” Biden’s budget <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/600002-biden-budget-proposes-817b-to-prepare-for-future-pandemics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
The proposed money for future pandemics comes as some have claimed that the U.S. funded the gain of function research that created COVID and leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. 
On Wednesday, former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-cdc-director-says-american-tax-dollars-funded-research-at-wuhan-lab-that-created-covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said that</a> American tax dollars funded gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where he believes that the virus leaked from. 
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Speaking to the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Redfield doubled down on his history of disputing the collective narrative that COVID transmitted from a bat to a human and further testified that scientific research indicates that one of the most infectious viruses that impacted nearly seven million lives globally likely leaked from the Chinese Communist Party run-lab in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Redfield said that he believed funding from the State Department, USAID, and the Department of Defense all went toward the gain of function research he believes led to the leak of COVID. 
New statements from the Department of Energy also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-intel-prompts-energy-dept-to-assess-covid-likely-leaked-from-wuhan-lab-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provide evidence</a> for the claim that the virus could have escaped from a lab, with the department saying with “low confidence” that COVID escaped from a lab.
Brandon Drey contributed to this report.

President Biden Delivers Remarks On 2024 Budget Plan In Philadelphia

Biden Asks For Millions To Go Toward ‘Pandemic Preparedness,’ ‘Global Health Security,’ As COVID Origin Questions Remain

Biden Asks For Millions To Go Toward 'Pandemic Preparedness,' 'Global Health Security,' As COVID Origin Questions Remain

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