The Black PSYOP against Vice President Biden, begun in 2014 to dirty him up ahead of a potential 2016 presidential run and now intended to damage him in the 2020 presidential election cycle, has evolved. Since the novel Coronavirus/SARSCOV2 and COVID-19 pandemic have now overtaken the news cycle, beating on the joint, repeatedly debunked conspiracy theories that VP Biden interjected himself into Ukrainian politics to protect his son from investigation for corruption and that the Ukraine, not Russia, conspired with the Obama administration, the Clinton 2016 campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the news media to illegally influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election and frame Russia for doing so has been abandoned. The Black PSYOP has shifted to tying VP Biden, his campaign, the Democratic Party, and the news media to the People’s Republic of China’s attempts to destroy the United States in general and the President in specific through the novel Coronavirus/SARSCOV2 and COVID-19 pandemic.
This was emailed around to people on the Trump/Pence 2020 reelection mailing list:
I first saw it retweeted by Fred Guttenberg, who is the parent of one Parkland student survivor and one Parkland student who did not survive. But it is also posted on the President’s campaign website at this link.
Yesterday, Chanel Rion, the conspiracist and fabulist hired by the One American News Network (OANN) who had been conspiring with Rudy Giuliani on the Ukrainian conspiracy Black PSYOP against VP Biden, switched to the China conspiracy BLACK PSYOP against VP Biden. She did this by teeing up a two part question focusing on the fact that Democrats, reporters, and just decent people everywhere objecting to referring to the novel Coronavirus/SARSCOV2 as the “China virus”, which allowed the President to go off on the Democratic Party, the news media, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Rion and OANN have been pushing this for a bit, culminating in both an expose broadcast on OANN last week and yesterday’s question.
By teeing up the question the way she did, Rion was able to get it covered live by all the broadcast networks, as well as reported by all the print and digital news media. This laundered the false and untrue conspiracy theory linking VP Biden, Democrats and the Democratic Party, and the news media with the People’s Republic of China through the actual news media and from there into social media. From there further reporting was done on the responses to the fabricated bullshit that Rion is pushing. The entire Black PSYOP circuit occurred in less than 24 hours. And while it is all completely false – VP Biden, the Democrats and the Democratic Party, and the news media are not conspiring with the PRC against the US and the President – it now provides the context, because it was covered by the news media, for the President’s reelection campaign’s use of it to rile up his base and generate donations.
A Black PSYOP conducted from start to finish in a day.
Open thread!
Mary G
You could tell it was prearranged; the president was smirking as he called on OANN.
Frankensteinbeck
Unfortunately, because he’s spent so much of the rest of these speeches ranting about who’s persecuting him, this will affect his already rabid base and no one else. If these PSYOPs don’t take with the general public like EMAILS!!! did, they’re not going to do more than line his pockets a bit more.
satby
Explains why all my right wing stalkers on FB came out to fight with me on my posts today. I figured they had sent some sort of alert out.
Mary G
Forbes article with lots of links:
Calling All People Who Sew And Make: You Can Help Solve 2020 N95-Type Mask Shortage
I’m sure the regular masks would be better, but Twitter is full of doctors, nurses, and hospital workers sounding the alarm about running out, and something is better than nothing.
Mary G
@satby: I’m getting a lot of “Dianne Feinstein is crooked and needs to resign” and am blocking as fast as I can.
CaseyL
@Frankensteinbeck: A agree: this will have little to no effect on voters, and I frankly don’t care about Trumpsters getting fleeced.
Mike in NC
Apparently the “China Virus” line of attack against Joe Biden is more important than Princess Ivanka’s knock-off merchandise made in Chinese prison sweatshops.
dr. bloor
@Mike in NC: There is no dollar value too large to be placed on keeping daddy out of jail.
JMG
Dial twitching I went past Washington Week in Review and paused to watch. A big mistake. A show I never missed in the ’80s is now just propaganda. One reporter said Cuomo and Newsom had praised Trump for his actions. Flat out lie. The Capitol Hill reporter made excuses for Burr and said “Senators aren’t really focusing on that.” No shit, Sherlock. Few Mafiosi had a lot to say during the Gotti trials. PBS and NPR news operations exist to offend nobody, meaning they are useless to everybody. Shut ’em down. Don’t give ’em a nickel.
8 man shell
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/03/coronavirus-shutdown-environment/
Brachiator
What is this thing about “a Chinese official blamed the US military” for the virus? I have only heard this coming out of Trump’s mouth.
I guess this explains why Trump has been so insistent on calling the corona virus the “Chinese” virus. I thought it was just his stupid bigotry. But was he playing his part in a disinformation campaign?
lamh36
Of course they fuq’n knew!
Van Buren
Anybody have an opinion on who in my household should venture out for shopping tomorrow: mid 50s wife in very good health, or 22 year old asthmatic son? I’m right out as a late 50s man who has been exposed and has a mild heart condition.
JMG
@Brachiator: I believe one actually did, which shows the utter futility of the ethnic blame game for both sides. Trump’s already moved on to blaming illegal immigrants. The Chinese might still decide to just bribe him.
Darkrose
I’m more concerned about the “Where’s Joe?” nonsense from the Bernie stans. I’ve seen it from people on my Twitter timeline who should know better, combining it with the “Biden has dementia” bullshit.
WaterGirl
@Van Buren: My totally-not-expert-opinion is mid-50s wife in very good health.
Duane
Trumpov and the Republican party have conspired with the Chinese to infect the US with coronavirus and cause a national emergency so they can enrich themselves and he’ll be a war-time president and ride a wave of support to re-election. Makes sense to me.
Baud
@Darkrose:
Don’t be concerned about that. They are a fixed quantity that we can’t do anything about. Hillary almost overcame them and Biden surely will. That’s all that matters.
Duane
@Van Buren: Saturday is always the busiest. Is it possible to go when less people are shopping?
Ksmiami
@Frankensteinbeck: I’m re reading my history of the French Revolution / I’m thinking of ordering a tumbrel kit to build and take to Washington
Aleta
Van Buren
@WaterGirl: That is my feeling as well. The kid thinks we are crazy.
Jeffro
@dr. bloor: if/when trumpov falls, there’s a good chance the whole corrupt enterprise comes crashing down.
he, and they, are ‘all in’. I have no doubt that they have no bottom here
WaterGirl
@Van Buren: Wife, then you, then the son. Only I wouldn’t let the son out of the house for anything. :-)
Jeffro
@Brachiator: there Is some reporting, (the stuff I saw was via NYT) and some video, of various Chinese officials denying that the virus even originated in China, and speculating that it might even have originated in the United States.
It is what they put out during their own epidemic to help keep the population in line. Unfortunately, The no-scruples GOP is now using it to fan the flames and deflect blame for trumpov’s colossal failure to protect the country
Brachiator
@Aleta:
Dubya and Cheney didn’t pay attention to the intelligence agencies and we got 911.
Trump didn’t pay attention to the intelligence agencies and we got the corona virus.
At least the Republicans are consistently stupid. Unfortunately, other people end up paying the price.
Duane
@Aleta: Every bit of that report perfectly supports my recently invented, I mean discovered, conspiracy against the Amercan People. I am not a crackpot.
dm
I’ve seen push-back along the lines of “why are you siding with Chinese Communists?” when someone objects to the term “Chinese flu”.
The Dangerman
For some reason, this tripped the fuse; don’t know why, I knew they were shits. It’s going to be such an ugly campaign. Right now, it THIS ugliness, that is just … enough for now.
Mental health break. Back in a while.
Jay
@Ksmiami:
careful, a bunch of the tumbrel sites are scammers,
Jay
Ohio Mom
As I hop and skip around the internet, I often see people insisting that Trump is showing signs of dementia but reading this post I am reminded on why those posts and comments never convince me: he is clearly in on every dirty trick.
Adam L Silverman
@Frankensteinbeck: The real purpose of all this is for the campaign to be able to package the misinformation for micro-targeted ads on Facebook and reference legitimate news outlets when doing.
Geminid
I hear Pompeo and other Trump apologists on the radio, emphasizing China’s culpability in the spread of of Covid-19 because the authorities tried to cover it up last December, and early January. That is a barely plausible excuse for our government’s inaction in January. But what’s Trump’s excuse for wasting February? Which measures he brags about taking in March couldn’t have been taken last month, and to better effect?
Miss Bianca
Dear
AdamAnn Landers, I’m starting to wish that all these vile people would catch the virus and just die.Is it wrong?
Mary G
@lamh36: @Aleta: That whole article is just infuriating.
Brachiator
@The Dangerman:
Just want to formally note that I know exactly how you feel.
Dmbeaster
Does this influence anyone’s thinking about the post earlier today whether we should pause during a time of medical crisis or continue to engage in the political war against these monaters?
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: The PRC rolled it out last week. It is a PRC influence operation aimed at two audiences. The first is domestic, to shift blame off of the government and the second is external to be used as part of the Belt and Road Initiative paired with the PRC directly providing testing kits and medical assistance and indirectly doing so through state backed Chinese millionaires and their companies.
The misinformation is that novel Coronavirus/SARSCOV2 was brought to China during the International Military Games in Fall 2019 by a US Soldier who participated in the games. And therefore the novel Coronavirus/SARSCOV2 is not China’s fault because it didn’t really start in China, it started in the US, and it is the US’s fault that an infected American Soldier was allowed to travel to China, effect one or more people, and leave China to deal with the immediate impact.
Jay
Adam L Silverman
@Darkrose: Biden told reporters on the conference call with him today that they have spent all week building appropriate broadcasting facilities for him and his team at his home in Delaware and starting Monday he will be on everyday presenting what is essentially a shadow government contrast to what the President and his administration are doing regarding the pandemic. He made it clear that the reporters would be seeing far more of him than they could imagine.
Mary G
LA Times:
So they will not be capturing people with mild cases, and maybe not even the serious ones?
Why do something so stupid, you say? No money.
Isn’t this something the feds should be doing?
Adam L Silverman
@Ksmiami:
via GIPHY
Brachiator
@Jeffro:
Interesting. I missed all that, or tuned it out, because it really doesn’t much matter where the virus was first noted.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Morally and ethically? Yes.
Jay
@Frankensteinbeck:
@CaseyL:
I have zero confidence given the Average American Voter, Domestic and Foreign troll farms, the Reich Wing Media, Facebook and Twitter, and the venal US MS October , this attack on Biden won’t have legs.
The Thin Black Duke
The difference between 2016 and 2020 is that Clinton Derangement Syndrome won’t be a factor in this year’s election. Too many dumb people hated Hillary so much that they thought that voting for a vulgar, stupid and bigoted fake millionaire was a good idea. The Usual Suspects won’t be able to ignite another firestorm of hatred against Joe Biden because most folks like Joe.
Adam L Silverman
@The Dangerman: @Brachiator: Imagine how I feel. I actually track this stuff professionally.
Adam L Silverman
@Dmbeaster: Pedal to the metal!
Adam L Silverman
@Dmbeaster: No quarter!
Brachiator
@Mary G:
This really puts things into perspective. The Republicans want to shrink the federal government because they don’t see that it does anything useful.
Adam L Silverman
@Dmbeaster:
Miss Bianca
@Darkrose: Where’s *Joe*? Where the fuck is Bernie?
Like I actually want to know. Christ, what an asshole.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Drat!
Kelly
@Adam L Silverman:
You have the advantage of advanced training
Fraud Guy
I commented to my wife on this very Q/A when it happened that it was a setup. [sigh]
Brachiator
@Adam L Silverman:
I had not been paying much attention to earlier briefings because of work. But I happened to see this one.
I had heard Trump emphasize the Chinese virus thing before.
But in this briefing, a few things stood out.
Chinese virus
The emphasis on Communist China and Communist Chinese government.
The invisible enemy
the explicit mention of Dianne Feinstein, but no Republicans, in response to a question about the crazy stock sale…
And all this in a briefing that was supposed to give us information about the status of fighting the corona virus
And now this disgusting attempt to tie Biden to hatred of the country and, of course, hatred of the most patriotic president ever
It really gets weary watching this crap unfold.
Jay
A Guardian Story from Feb noting that esteemed Economist and Dumph Official Wilbur Ross believes that Covid19 will be a great job creator.
Jay
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: All the “China” virus stuff is signaling to the white Christians in his base. For them to use it and then for them to get riled up when everyone who isn’t a bigot calls them out for being bigots. So they can accuse everyone else of putting PC ahead of the US’s interests and American’s health.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: Unsurprising.
Ksmiami
@Miss Bianca: no justice must be meted out. the GOP deserves annihilation
mrmoshpotato
@The Thin Black Duke:
And the people who hated Hillary so much that they voted 3rd party or didn’t vote.
Ksmiami
@Adam L Silverman: can I expedite my order? seriously I see no living with Republicans after this
Adam L Silverman
@Ksmiami: Two lines, no waiting!
mrmoshpotato
@Ksmiami: Burn it to the ground, salt the soil. Fucking shame one of our two major political parties deserves this.
Another Scott
@Brachiator:
FIFY.
And that’s fine as an abstract political philosophy. They can build an actual ethos on that if they want. They should run on it if they believe it!
But they won’t, because they know it’s unpopular and they can’t win elections on that. So they run on trumped up nonsense and then when they get into office they start breaking everything.
It’s infuriating…
Cheers,
Scott.
Jay
Jay
Ksmiami
@mrmoshpotato: Remember they brought it on themselves and thoroughly deserve our hatred and enmity
Mart
That OANN lady makes me miss those bygone days of the militarystud.com – Jeff Gannon (Guckert) tossing softballs at Bush pressers. I guess her trip with Rudy to Ukraine did not work out so well; or are they waiting for the right time to dump?
glory b
Just now, Rachel Maddow called on the media to stop broadcasting Trump’s press conferences, she said the lies are leading to people’s deaths.
Then she began weeping when she talked about the msnbc sound man who died of the virus today.
WaterGirl
@glory b: Glad to hear Rachel took that stand.
Mike in DC
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate–sign above the entrance to
HellApril in the United States.Patrianakos
@Geminid: Yeah. Both Xi’s minions and Trump’s are pointing fingers for all they’re worth, hoping folks will get confused.
evodevo
@satby: Luckily, all my usual wingers/libertarians are so freaked out by the stock market they have temporarily shut the hell up…which is nice
Another Scott
DeLong reads too much, but we all benefit.
(Emphasis added.)
Hmm…
Cheers,
Scott.
Cheryl Rofer
@Brachiator:
Some Chinese officials are saying this. It’s a propaganda campaign on their side
ETA: I see Adam answered this in more detail.
Patrianakos
@Mike in DC: Just remember who put up that sign.
They don’t call him the Prince of Lies for nothing.
Courage.
Mary G
Ed Kilgore has a good piece at NY Mag about why Red staters may still side with Twitler no matter how bad he gets:
Jay
Jay
@Mary G:
on the other hand, Red State-rs with their Gobernment hate, proud sheep like individualism and disdain for facts and science will be dropping like flies.
Red Cedar
@Van Buren: As a mid-50s wife in good health who has been doing the family shopping, I vote for my twin.
Jay
Dmbeaster
@Adam L Silverman: LOL. That is such a wonderfully cheesy scene.
Bill Arnold
From the donaldjtrump.com link:
Uhm, nope. Anyone with a few K$ can (illegally) buy a DDoS attack, e.g. to manipulate the stock market. That’s red-flag bullshit, until they have actual attribution.
(Also, I have logs of (at least) 6 “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services” IP addresses trying to log into my home machine (via an exposed ssh port). They were probably part of a botnet. That strongly suggests real sloppiness.)
Darkrose
@Adam L Silverman: That’s good to hear.