Joe Biden's new 'disinformation czar' dismissed concerns about Critical Race Theory in schools as 'disinformation for profit', despite parents across the country being worried about the teaching of the philosophy in their children's classrooms.
Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation expert who has worked throughout Eastern Europe, was hired on April 27 to lead a Homeland Security Department working group designed to help its different agencies in dealing with disinformation, looking at topics ranging from migration to plots from Russia and Iran.
But her appointment has angered Republicans.
The Republican National Committee dubbed the committee she heads 'Ministry of Truth' in a nod to George Orwell's novel '1984' and couched disinformation as 'any speech we don't like.'
Other critics have seized upon her past comments - noting that she described Hunter Biden's laptop as 'the laptop from hell', and echoed the opinion of national security experts at the time that the laptop was part of a Russian influence operation. It has since been accepted as authentic.
On Wednesday, a clip from a November 2021 address to The City Club of Cleveland was circulated online, which showed Jankowicz downplaying concerns about CRT.
Nina Jankowicz is pictured in November 2021, giving a lecture and taking questions at The City Club of Cleveland. She was asked about CRT, and said it was a 'weaponization of emotions'
Opponents of the academic doctrine known as Critical Race Theory protest outside of the Loudoun County School Board headquarters, in Ashburn, Virginia, in June 2021
Protesters and their children are seen outside the Loudoun County government center in Leesburg, Virginia, on June 12, 2021
One man in the audience said that Republicans were using Critical Race Theory to divide people, and asked her: 'How do you get people to understand and go beyond the headlines?'
The use of critical race theory, or CRT, in education has been criticized for its exploration of whether the U.S. is built on racism, with skin color determining the social, economic and political differences between each.
Advocates say its' teaching is necessary to underline how deeply racism pervades society, while critics say it is divisive and paints everyone as a victim or oppressor.
Loudoun Superintendent Scott Ziegler says that CRT is not being taught to students, and that parents and other activists are seizing upon the district's equity training for staff and claiming it is being taught in classrooms.
She replied: 'You're absolutely right that Critical Race Theory has become one of those hot-button issues that the Republicans and other disinformers, who are engaged in disinformation for profit, frankly - there are plenty of media outlets that are making money off this too - have seized on.
'And I live in Virginia, and in Loudoun County that's one of the areas where people have really honed in on this topic.
'But it's no different than any of the other hot-button issues that have allowed disinformation to flourish.
'It's weaponizing people's emotion.'
She recommended that the audience be aware of reading articles that made you feel emotional and passionate, and said she supported public media, because they are able to give time and space for debate.
Yet now members of the Loudoun
