When Joe Biden appointed his own “disinformation czar” to head up our own version of a Ministry of Truth right here in the United States, people obviously had a lot of questions. Analysts quickly began looking into the background of Nina Jankowicz but didn’t discover very much beyond her own history of spreading disinformation (including denials about the Hunter Biden laptop story) and her fondness for singing. A lot. But the unavoidable comparisons to George Orwell’s book 1984 were unavoidable and the head of Homeland Security wound up needing to attempt to quell the criticism. He did that yesterday by admitting that he “could have done a better job” in announcing and rolling out the new office and assured Americans that Jankowicz was in no way planning to suppress anyone’s rights to free speech.

Mayorkas said on “Fox News Sunday” that the Biden administration “could have done a better job in communicating what it does.” …

“The goal is to bring the resources of [DHS] together to address this threat,” he said during the hearing, adding that the department is focused on the spread of disinformation in minority communities ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

Mayorkas explained Sunday that the board specifically addresses “disinformation that presents a security threat to the homeland.”

“Disinformation from Russia, from China, from Iran, from the cartels,” he said.

You can watch the applicable part of Mayorkas’ segment on CNN in this tweet from the RNC.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says Biden’s Ministry of Truth will be “safeguarding the right of free speech."

🤔 pic.twitter.com/8SYLYThK8o

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 1, 2022

Mayorkas sounded like he was talking out of both sides of his mouth as he sought to bat down the obvious criticism being leveled at his department. He vaguely stated that DHS will primarily be “focused on the spread of disinformation in minority communities ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.” How does he plan on combatting “the spread of disinformation” without clamping down on public statements and social media posts? It’s also worth noting the emphasis he placed on “minority communities” and the 2022 midterm elections.

You don’t need an ouija board to interpret what he was saying there. He’s talking about any sort of information or analysis that might reflect poorly on the performance of the Biden administration thus far, particularly in Democratic strongholds. Why else would he specify the period ahead of the election? Isn’t supposed “disinformation” dangerous all year, every year, and not just the weeks before people go to vote? This is clearly a blatant political mission, not an effort to keep anyone “safe.”

Perhaps realizing that he was already putting his foot in his mouth, Mayorkas switched up his message and said that his department will be interested in disinformation “from Russia, from China, from Iran, from the cartels.” But if that’s the case, wouldn’t this be a job for the State Department rather than homeland security? He then veered off yet again, claiming that he wasn’t even talking about speech, but acts of violence.

“It’s not about speech, it’s about the connectivity to violence. That is what we need to address. You know, an individual has the free speech right to spew anti-Semitic rhetoric. What they don’t have the right to do is take hostages in a synagogue, and that’s where we get involved.”

Well, obviously if an armed intruder is taking hostages you’re going to need to send in law enforcement to “get involved.” But that’s not disinformation. That’s a physical attack. Even a clear threat to attack a place of worship and take hostages would fall outside of protected free speech. But that’s very different than people going on Twitter and debating the efficacy of facemasks, decrying the situation on the southern border, or complaining about gas prices and supply chain shortages. If Ms. Jankowicz starts labeling those sorts of conversations as “disinformation” and shutting people down or demanding that the social media giants do so, we will know that Orwell’s predictions have become our new reality in a serious fashion. And tragically, most of the mainstream media has already begun sending clear signals indicating that they are just fine with that as long as it’s just conservatives who are being silenced.