GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama criticized the Biden administration following the announcement that it would fact-check disinformation related to COVID-19. He pointed to a double standard, saying fact-checking should start with Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Appearing on Newsmax's "Greg Kelly Reports" on Friday Brooks said, "certainly, [Fauci] has made a number of serious misrepresentations that have gutted his credibility in the public sector — one of the reasons that I've called for his termination. But getting back to the posting on social media; Big Tech, if they're gonna censor, and if the standard is going to be reliability, then Dr. Fauci has to be the first to go."
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced the government would work with media, including social media, to prevent disinformation related to COVID-19. Psaki can be seen saying in a video provided by the New York Post that "we are in regular touch with the social media platforms and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff and also members of our COVID-19 team — given as [U.S. Surgeon General] Dr. [Vivek] Murthy conveyed, this is a big issue, of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic."
Brooks then offered his best wishes to former President Donald Trump in his lawsuit against social media companies. The congressman acknowledged that even though the First Amendment only protects free speech from government censorship, he contended that social media companies are creating divisiveness that threatens the United States as a republic.
"A republic only functions properly," Brooks states, "if there is a discourse of different opinions and ideas. But if you have propaganda coming from one side, and the other side is totally silenced and cannot rebut the propaganda, then you're undermining not only the First Amendment, but you're undermining our republic and the knowledge that voters need in order to cast wise decisions on Election Day. That's a problem."
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