Ex-Disinformation Chief Nina Jankowicz Targets Pelosi Over ‘Blatant Misrepresentation’

Zachary LeemanJul 6th, 2022, 1:57 pm
 

Nina Jankowicz Accuses Pelosi of Disinformation

The former head of the paused Disinformation Governance Board, Nina Jankowicz, broke from her usual criticism of conservatives to call out Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for “blatant misrepresentation” of polling data to make Democrats’ chances in the 2022 midterms seem brighter.

In a campaign fundraising email, Pelosi stated that FiveThirtyEight polling data showed Democrats are “poised to win SIX Senate seats” in November. In reality, most of the races the email referred to were tossups or leaned the other way. FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver called out the House Speaker this week on Twitter for spreading “straight-up misinformation.”

“Yeah, this is straight-up misinformation from Pelosi. We have Democrats as heavy underdogs in Florida and Ohio,” he tweeted.

In Pelosi’s email, she was so excited that she said she was in “disbelief,” claiming Silver’s FiveThirtyEight had Democrats tracking to win seats in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Ohio.

Jankowicz, whose past political statements kicked up controversy and mockery from numerous conservatives and others like Elon Musk, agreed with Silver’s assertion and said she’d “wager” the disinformation was “deliberate.” She did, however, fit in the caveat that it’s “not the most outrageous falsely-attributed statement I’ve seen in a ‘22 fundraising email.”

“While it’s not the most outrageous falsely-attributed statement I’ve seen in a ‘22 fundraising email, this blatant misrepresentation of @fivethirtyeight’s work is unacceptable. Dems should drop this disinfo (as I would wager it was deliberate) & focus fundraising on real issues,” she tweeted in response to Silver’s accusation.

In comments to the New York Times on Wednesday, Jankowicz lamented the short history of the Disinformation Governance Board. Tweeting about the story, she claimed fighting disinformation is impossible today because of a “polarized, hysterical climate.”

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Zachary Leeman

Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.