According to Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard took part in an under-the-radar launch of a new conspiracy theory aimed at feeding the beast that is the MAGA movement.
While the Make America Great Again horde was expressing dismay with FBI Director Kash Patel and his right-hand man, Dan Bongino, for pouring cold water on the belief that accused pedophile Jeffry Epstein's death was not the result of suicide, Gabbard stepped into the breach with some new "red meat" that could put the U.S. on the path to a new wave of domestic violence.
As Marcotte noted, Gabbard, with the media occupied elsewhere, "started pushing the flat-out lie that President Joe Biden was labeling Americans as 'terrorists' because they opposed COVID-19 mitigation measures like masks and vaccines."
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Like most MAGA conspiracies, the columnist wrote there is no there there.
"Biden did no such thing, but by pushing this lie, Gabbard is, whether she intends to or not, encouraging the radicalization that does lead to domestic terrorism," Marcotte wrote before pointing out that Gabbard declassified a memo from federal law officials decrying "COVID-19 disinformation played in encouraging domestic terrorism."
As she elaborated, "Gabbard knows that Trump voters aren't exactly the reading types, and they will never bother to read this memo. So she and her minions in the MAGA press have been pretending this document was a pretext by the Biden administration to go after Republican voters who didn't break the law."
And that is where the danger comes from.
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"This conspiracy theory isn't just an immoral rationalization of Trump's assault on free speech. By putting this out there, Gabbard is also encouraging more violent extremism," Marcotte accused. "As with Trump's pardons of the Jan. 6 rioters, Gabbard's actions send the message that the administration will shield domestic terrorists and other dangerous people by minimizing their actions. Extremists are more likely to take violent action if they believe they have official support like this."
Admitting her concern may seem "hyperbolic," Marcotte reminded readers that Trump set off a violent insurrection on Jan. 6 by making false claims that the election was "stolen" from him.
"Gabbard is no doubt aware that her dishonesty isn't just gross, but dangerous," she accused before adding, "he either doesn't care, or, like Trump, finds it useful to keep feeding the delusions of the scariest people in the MAGA movement."
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