Bizarre: DHS Announces Heightened Terrorism Threat Sparked by Election and COVID 'Misinformation'
In a strange announcement Monday, the Department of Homeland Security stated that the domestic terrorism threat remains heightened due, in part, to “false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories.”
In the bulletin, DHS makes clear some of the misinformation centers around election integrity and COVID-19.
“Key factors contributing to the current heightened threat environment include [the] proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions,” the agency said.
“For example, there is widespread online proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding unsubstantiated widespread election fraud and COVID-19. Grievances associated with these themes inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021,” DHS added.
What exactly are those false narratives?
The vast majority of Republicans have doubts about the integrity of the 2020 election, but they certainly didn’t back those who engaged in violence on Jan. 6.
A Quinnipiac poll released in December found 77 percent of Republicans believe there was widespread voter fraud and 70 percent think Biden’s win was illegitimate.
This survey closely tracked one conducted by YouGov, where 71 percent of GOP respondents said the win was either “not legitimate” or “probably not legitimate.”
Are Republican voters now all viewed as terrorist threats?
[firefly_poll]
Why do GOP voters have these doubts about 2020?
Because Democrats changed the rules of the contest in the months before the general election: unmanned drop boxes, changed deadlines, no signature verification, Democratic operatives working with election officials in key swing-state counties, etc.
And what COVID misinformation is widely circulating now? Is this DHS push all aimed to give cover for those trying to deplatform Joe Rogan and others like him?
BREAKING: Biden’s DHS has declared a heightened terrorism threat due to “misinformation” and “conspiracy theories” regarding COVID-19.
Any speech the government doesn’t approve is terrorism?
Is this the official govt response to @joerogan?
Frightening day for America.
— Jenny Beth Martin (@jennybethm) February 9, 2022
Last week, Rogan addressed the accusation that he’s “spreading dangerous misinformation.”
“The problem I have with the term misinformation, especially today, is that many of the things that we thought of as misinformation just a short while ago are now accepted as fact,” Rogan explained.
“For instance, eight months ago if you said, ‘If you get vaccinated, you can still catch COVID, and you can still spread COVID,’ you’d be removed from social media,” he said. “Now, that’s accepted as fact.”
Rogan observed the same was true regarding promoting the Chinese lab leak theory concerning the origin of COVID-19 or questioning the efficacy of wearing cloth face masks.
One of the main points Rogan’s guest, Dallas-based cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, made on the popular podcast in December was that policymakers have focused too singularly on getting people vaccinated while failing to promulgate effective COVID treatment protocols.
McCullough told Rogan, in his opinion, upwards of 85 percent of COVID deaths could have been prevented if patients had been treated earlier.
And last month Dr. Robert Malone, who helped invent the mRNA technology used in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, said he has concerns about universal vaccination.
He has come out strongly against children being vaccinated, arguing the risk of them having complications from the vaccine is greater than contracting the sickness itself.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention itself has acknowledged for the most part that the vaccines are safe, but there are risks.
Rogan, McCullough and Malone are engaging in legitimate First Amendment protected political discourse about government policies.
Just because Americans disagree with government officials does not make them purveyors of misinformation, certainly not potential terrorists.
