Conservatives have blasted the head of the Biden administration’s new Disinformation Governance Board over videos she shared on TikTok.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose agency established the panel, faced questions about how much was known about Nina Jankowicz’s– the leader of the board — social media use.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked, “When the department picked her was the department aware of her TikTok videos?”
“They’re really quite precocious,” he added in what appeared to be a jab at one of her videos that has gone viral.
Mayorkas responded, “I was not aware of those videos.”
Watch the video below:
Sen. Kennedy: "When the department picked [Nina Jankowicz], was the department aware of her TikTok videos? They're really quite precocious."
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 4, 2022
Alejandro Mayorkas: "I was not aware of those videos." pic.twitter.com/hGbtznUMjV
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is creating the Disinformation Governance Board.
Mayorkas told CNN on Sunday that the board does not have operational authority and is intended to “ensure that the way in which we address threats, the connectivity between threats and acts of violence, are addressed without infringing on free speech. Protecting civil rights and civil liberties, the right of privacy.”
However, conservatives have compared it to the “Ministry of Truth” in George Orwell’s novel 1984.
Additionally, they have expressed dismay at resurfaced TikTok videos from Jankowicz.
In one video, Jankowicz sings about disinformation to the tune of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from “Mary Poppins.”
“Information laundering is really quite ferocious. It’s when a huckster takes some lies and makes them sound precocious,” the video starts off. “By saying them in Congress or a mainstream outlet. So disinformation’s origins are slightly less atrocious.”
Jankowicz continued, “It’s how you hide a little, hide a little lie.”
In case you missed it:
This one absolutely has to go into the 2022 Time Capsule. #MinistryOfTruth pic.twitter.com/gww1JncUZW
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 29, 2022
“When Rudy Giuliani shared bad intel from Ukraine. Or when TikTok influencers say COVID can’t cause pain. They’re laundering disinfo and we really should take note and not support their lies with our wallet, voice or vote,” she added.
Mayorkas previously defended Jankowicz, calling her “eminently qualified” and “a renowned expert in the field of disinformation.”