Biden’s new Truth Minister once criticized Trump for calling out disinformation

A video has surfaced showing newly announced Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) head Nina Jankowicz criticizing President Donald Trump for calling out “fake news”, saying that the executive branch should not be the arbiter of truth. 

As reported by Frontline News Thursday, the Biden administration is creating a “Disinformation Governance Board”, which will be under the Department of Homeland Security, a department which answers directly to the president. The purpose of the board will be to counter what the administration considers to be false information that threatens national security.  

But in a recently surfaced video from 2020, Jankowicz is shown criticizing Trump for calling some news outlets “fake news” and saying that the president should not decide what is true and what is false. 

“Imagine that, you know, with President Trump right now calling all of these news organizations that have — inconvenient for him — stories that they’re getting out there, that he’s calling ‘fake news', and now lashing out at platforms,” Jankowicz said. “I would never want to see our executive branch have that sort of power, and that’s why, you know, the legislative process, with our duly elected officials is really important. That sort of consultative rule-making process. We can’t just govern by executive order anymore.” 

Jankowicz went on to warn against what she called “anti-democratic online governance”. 

But Jankowicz is admittedly not enthusiastic about free speech online. 

“And I shudder to think about if free speech absolutists,” she said in an NPR interview last month, referring to Elon Musk, “were taking over more platforms, what that would look like for the marginalized communities all around the world...”   

The Biden administration is being criticized for the fact that the woman appointed to combat Russian disinformation has famously been unable to spot it.  

Nina Jankowicz was among those who insisted that the New York Post’s story about Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” - which exposed corruption within the Biden family – was Russian disinformation. 

Many are now sounding the alarm over the DGB, with some comparing it to the Soviet Union’s infamous KGB or to George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth. 

“You cannot have a Ministry of Truth in this country,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in remarks Friday. “Let’s get real here. Let’s make sure we are doing things to benefit Floridians and Americans, but we’re not going to let Biden get away with this one. We will be fighting back.” 

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) penned a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressing his shock at the notion of the DGB. 

“I write with deep concern about the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to create a new Disinformation Governance Board,” began Hawley. “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 almost certainly unconstitutional and should be dissolved immediately.” 

Other popular figures like former The View co-host Meghan McCain also weighed in, referencing the popular film V for Vendetta which takes place in a dystopian setting. 

“‘Disinformation board” is straight out of V for Vendetta and it should petrify every American,” McCain tweeted.