Republicans in the United States Senate appear united in opposition to a recently-passed bill that allegedly aims to combat “domestic terrorism” in the United States, which was passed in the aftermath of the Buffalo massacre.
According to The Hill, Republicans have called out the bill’s blatant partisanship, with Democrats immediately blaming Republicans for the shooting before introducing the bill as a mostly symbolic gesture.
“It’s like the disinformation board on steroids,” said Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). “Another way to look at is the Patriot Act for American citizens.”
“I’m completely opposed to this idea that we would be giving the federal government and federal law enforcement power and authority to surveil Americans, to engage in any kind of monitoring of speech that is directed toward censorship,” Hawley continued. “I think it’s extremely frightening and I can’t believe they haven’t learned their lesson from the disinformation board debacle.”
Hawley was referencing a recent failed initiative by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create its own “disinformation governance board,” through which the federal government would target and attempt to censor information that it alone determined to be false. That board’s creation was announced shortly after billionaire Elon Musk announced his plans to purchase Twitter, in order to reform the Big Tech giant into a more free speech-friendly platform. After widespread criticism and mockery, the DHS’ board was shut down, and its would-be chairwoman, Nina Jankowicz, announced her resignation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has vowed to bring the domestic terrorism bill for a floor vote sometime this week. The bill, formally known as the “Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022,” previously passed the House of Representatives in a mostly party-line vote of 222 to 203. The only Republican to vote in favor was Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who is not seeking re-election this year.
But Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) also voiced his opposition to the bill, saying that “the Democrats can’t even wait an hour before they blame the Republicans for the Buffalo shooting. I think it’s despicable.”
Following the shooting, the mainstream media and most Democrats falsely claimed that the shooting was an act of right-wing, White supremacist terrorism, blaming Republicans, President Donald Trump, and Fox News for motivating the shooter. However, the shooter explicitly said in his manifesto, published online shortly before the shooting, that he considers himself a “left authoritarian” who once held “Communist” beliefs when he was younger. He also directly attacked Fox News in his manifesto, thus confirming that the cable news network, and particularly its most popular host Tucker Carlson, had no influence on the shooter’s beliefs.