Dan Bongino: Big Tech is acting like a de facto government
Fox News host reacts to Americans being censored in the name of 'public health' on 'Fox News Primetime'
Retired US Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino, host of "Unfiltered" on Fox News, warned Friday on "Fox News Primetime" that President Biden has now admitted what was previously dubbed a "conspiracy theory" – that the federal government has a list of individuals on social media who disseminate facts they deem untoward about subjects like the coronavirus pandemic, and that the feds are also recommending to Facebook what speech shouldn't be published.
Bongino reacted to a tense back-and-forth between Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy and Biden press secretary Jen Psaki, after the latter accused the reporter of an "inaccurate" question about Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's office surveilling various social media profiles.
"There is no secret list. I will tell you these are people who are sharing information on public platforms on Facebook," Psaki replied.
"So there is a list," host Pete Hegseth remarked to Bongino.
Bongino replied that the exchange proves the current state of the First Amendment in the U.S. is "deadly serious."
"We have crossed a red line here. The government -- we have a Bill of Rights, right? It's a document of almost negatives. I don't mean that in a qualitative judgment way. The Bill of Rights tells you what the government can't do to you. They can't infringe on your right to self-protection [etcetera]," he said.
"So what the government can't do is infringe on your free speech except in very limited circumstances. Pete, what they also can't do is, if they want to crush your free speech because they don't like your opinion on the vaccine or your opinion on COVID lockdowns, is they can't deputize another one and say go forth to love and serve and do can't do."
Bongino said Psaki made it "clearly obvious" that Biden is "deputizing" friendly social media companies to tell others what they cannot say.
"They admitted to having a list," he said.
Bongino went on to warn Americans that there are "no assurances" that the apparent partnership between the White House and social media in this regard won't spiral further out of control as the 2022 and 2024 election seasons heat up.
In his preceding monologue, host Pete Hegseth referenced such a concern, noting that by the White House's overtures, censorship due to "public health concerns" can make almost any subject fit the Democrats' preferred narrative.
"Think about what [Psaki] is saying there — the Biden White House is demanding that separate, private companies band together — at the behest of the government — to remove all speech that she doesn’t like," he said.
"Public health is their reason now, but won’t COVID be a campaign issue? How will the White House and Facebook censorship partnership handle candidates who criticize the Democrat approach? Or masks? Or mandatory vaccines? Will those legitimate campaign issues be deemed "misinformation" as well. think about that?"
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Bongino said this issue is exponentially more urgent than tax reform or government spending, asserting that most mainstream Republicans are not concerned by this new development.
"This is the single most important political issue of our time: Literally the ability to speak in the public square. What's the point of arguing tax rates if you can't argue because you have been banned from the new public square social media? If you are not running on this, 2022 election and 2024 as your number one issue, please exit stage left."
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