This week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) slammed Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board, which is billed as a tool for combating internet “disinformation,” stating that it is one of the major sources of misinformation in the United States.
“I don’t believe the government can figure out what’s true,” Paul said on Monday, blaming the government for continual misinforming.
“The government is largely spreading misinformation,” he continued.
Paul’s remarks came after his disagreement with Dept. of Homeland Security Sec. Mayorkas over Biden’s board at last week’s Committee hearing.
As I stated earlier, Paul began his questioning by asking Mayorkas whether the Steele dossier was rife with Russian misinformation. Mayorkas refused to respond.
“You’re saying there’s a conflict of interest, but I don’t think that you are qualified to answer it,” the interviewer interjected. Paul responded by briefly going through the Mueller investigation, while noting that FBI agents determined that the dossier was packed with Russian disinformation.
“My question is,” Paul continued. “The FBI claims that the Steele dossier was full of Russian disinformation. CNN happily spread this false information for years and years. I wouldn’t shut down the organization for spreading lies,” he declared.
“You have a problem, which is that you are not even willing to admit it — I mean, we cannot even agree on what the FBI stated was disinformation. How do you propose to establish an office of misinformation governance if you can’t even define what disinformation is?” Paul asked Mayorkas as he challenged him over the lack of focus on “disinformation writ large.”
“There’s a lot of disinformation going on,” Paul said. “I think you have no idea what the meaning of the word is.”
“And I do not think the government is capable of it,” Paul pressed. “Do you happen to know who the greatest propagator of lies in the history of the world is?” he asked the Secretary. “The United States government,” he added, raising questions about McNamara and the Pentagon Papers, George W. Bush and the claim of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, as well as Iran-Contra.
“Key issues that the public has faced have been corrected through debate, not by the government acting as the arbiter of truth,” Paul said.
“You think the American people are too stupid to figure out what’s true on their own,” Paul said. “You can’t even come clean about the Steele dossier. I don’t trust the government to determine what’s true. Government is largely responsible for spreading disinformation,” he continued, adding the federal government’s involvement in covering up the Chinese coronavirus’ truth.
“I’ve said it many times that cloth masks just don’t work. YouTube takes me down. They are a private company. I can have that argument with them. What about you? Are you going to look at it? I frequently state that natural immunity is equivalent to vaccination or superior. Are you going to remove it? ” Paul inquired, as Mayorkas stated agency employees “do not have the expertise to make those judgments.” Mayorkas ultimately declined to answer whether public health would fall under Disinformation Governance Board’s purview.
