News · Press Release

Mariannette Miller-Meeks Spreads COVID-19 Misinformation *Again* Misleading and Confusing Iowa Veterans

WOI Local 5: “Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is standing by her decision to share misinformation

KCRG: “Several commenters on the website – and in response to Miller-Meeks’ tweet – appeared to have believed the false claim was accurate

In case you missed it, Mariannette Miller-Meeks is in the hot seat again for spreading COVID-19 misinformation to southeastern Iowans. Miller-Meeks shared a fake story from a satirical website that falsely claimed unvaccinated Iowa veterans would lose their health benefits. The fake story immediately caused confusion and concern from Iowa veterans, and “at least one veteran has reached out to KCRG-TV9 after hearing about the false claim, worried he was losing his benefits.”

And this is just the latest lie from Miller-Meeks, who repeatedly and falsely said that children do not spread COVID-19 — a claim which was fact checked false by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Miller-Meeks has also previously promoted President Trump’s dangerous guidance to take hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.

“Mariannette Miller-Meeks turned her back on southeastern Iowans by voting against COVID-19 relief in Congress and has repeatedly spread misinformation threatening public health and jeopardizing our economic recovery from the pandemic. It’s clear that Miller-Meeks cannot be trusted to look out for Iowans,” said DCCC spokesperson Elena Kuhn. 

READ MORE BELOW:

Quad-City Times: ‘If true, this is insane!’: Iowa’s Miller-Meeks retweeted a fake story about Biden withholding benefits to unvaccinated veterans, insinuating it was true.

  • Democrats and others on Monday blasted Iowa freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for sharing a fake news article from a satirical online news website falsely claiming Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration of planning to withhold health benefits from unvaccinated veterans.

  • Miller-Meeks, a licensed ophthalmologist and member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, retweeted the fake story from www.delawareohionews.com with the headline “Biden Orders VA To Withhold Health Benefits From Unvaccinated Veterans” to her 11,000 followers from her personal Twitter account late Sunday. In sharing it, she added “if true, this is insane!”

  • Delaware Ohio News includes the following disclaimer on its site: “Everything on this website is made up. Do not rely on anything said here.” The disclaimer further state: “Don’t believe us? Read our Legal Statements,” with a link to a more detailed disclaimer that further states: “All stories herein are parodies (satire, fiction, fake, not real) of people and/or actual events. All names are made up (unless used in a parody of public figures) and any similarity is purely coincidental.”

  • Miller-Meeks, in a statement, acknowledged sharing it and adding “if true, this is insane!” Miller-Meeks, however, went on to say, “The story and website is obviously satire and makes a powerful point. President Biden’s executive orders about COVID-19 have been classic examples of government overreach and these days the unbelievable has become reality.”

  • The statement continues: “With Americans trapped in Afghanistan, a (sic) immigration crisis on the southern border, and an unconstitutional overreach by President Biden to mandate COVID-19 vaccines, the media surely has more important things to cover than satirical tweets.”

  • Nothing in Miller-Meeks’ tweet sharing the fictional story, however, indicates that it is satirical, and instead insinuates that it might be true.

  • A representative for Miller-Meeks did not respond to follow up questions.

  • The tweet, from a 24-year Army veteran and former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, comes amidst heightened tensions, vitriol and the spread of misinformation over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and public health responses, guidelines and mandates.

  • “Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks needs to apologize to Iowa Veterans and President Biden for sharing a blatantly false, satirical story on social media and lending credence to its claims,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn said in a statement. “Miller-Meeks couldn’t do the bare minimum of research. The source clearly states its satirical purpose as an outlet ‘… for real fake local commentary, news, and opinion.'”

  • Wilburn called the incident “an embarrassment to our state and a danger to our democracy.”

  • “It’s clear Miller-Meeks will do anything to stay in power — including relying on lies and disinformation to further her incompetent campaign,” he said. “That’s why Iowans are ready to see her go in 2022.”

  • Wilburn and others called on Miller-Meeks to take down the tweet, which had been up for 15 hours and had not been deleted as of 2 p.m. Monday. The tweet had received 10 likes, 58 retweets and 102 comments.

  • “Mariannette Miller-Meeks turned her back on southeastern Iowans by voting against COVID-19 relief in Congress, and has repeatedly spread misinformation threatening public health and jeopardizing our economic recovery from the pandemic,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Elena Kuhn said in a statement.

  • In July, Miller-Meeks said that children do not spread COVID-19 — a claim which runs contrary to CDC guidance and which a pediatric infectious disease specialist, who Miller-Meeks claims to have gotten her guidance from, told the Cedar Rapids Gazette is “absolutely false.”

  • Miller-Meeks won last year’s election for Iowa’s open 2nd district U.S. House seat by six votes, the narrowest victory margin in a House race in almost 40 years, after Democrat Rita Hart ended her 2020 election challenge before the U.S. House in March.

  • Iowa City Democrat and state representative Christina Bohannan announced her campaign last month to unseat Miller-Meeks in southeast Iowa’s competitive swing district.

WOI: Rep. Miller-Meeks tweets misinformation about President Biden, unvaccinated veterans

  • Iowa Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is standing by her decision to share misinformation about President Joe Biden and his actions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • On Sunday evening, Miller-Meeks tweeted a link to a satirical article from the website DelawareOhioNews.com.

  • She added the statement, “If true, this is insane!”

  • The article describes a fake announcement from President Biden regarding unvaccinated veterans losing their health benefits from the Department of Veteran Affairs.

  • Biden made no such announcement.

  • A disclaimer on DelawareOhioNews.com states, “All stories herein are parodies (satire, fiction, fake, not real) of people and/or actual events. All names are made up (unless used in a parody of public figures) and any similarity is purely coincidental.”

  • Miller-Meeks shared the article and her thoughts about it with her more than 11,000 followers on Twitter. She represents more than 782,000 Iowans in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

  • Local 5 asked Miller-Meeks for an interview regarding her decision to spread misinformation online through the article, satirical or not.

  • Misinformation is defined as false information that is spread, regardless of intent to mislead.

  • Miller-Meeks declined an interview but provided this statement:

  • “I retweeted a story about President Biden requiring the VA to withhold benefits from unvaccinated veterans, saying ‘if true, this is insane.’ The story and website is obviously satire and makes a powerful point. President Biden’s executive orders about COVID-19 have been classic examples of government overreach and these days the unbelievable has become reality.”

  • Miller-Meeks continued: “With Americans trapped in Afghanistan, a immigration crisis on the southern border, and an unconstitutional overreach by President Biden to mandate COVID-19 vaccines, the media surely has more important things to cover than satirical tweets.”

  • Local 5 asked for clarification on what “powerful point” the article made, but a spokesperson declined to further clarify.

  • Miller-Meeks’ team also declined to comment regarding the congresswoman’s decision to share misinformation online.

KCRG: Miller-Meeks causes confusion after sharing parody article on benefits for unvaccinated veterans

  • A tweet by Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks is causing confusion falsely claiming that President Biden will withhold medical benefits from unvaccinated veterans.

  • The link was shared late Sunday night by Miller-Meeks’ Twitter account. Miller-Meeks, a Republican representing Iowa’s second congressional district, tweeted, “If true, this is insane!” The tweet directed readers to an article claiming that the President will “withhold healthcare benefits from unvaccinated veterans as part of an aggressive new initiative to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”

  • The article appears on the website DelawareOhioNews.com, a self-described parody website that cautions its readers with a warning, “. . . everything on this website is made up. Do not rely on anything said here.”

  • Several commenters on the website – and in response to Miller-Meeks’ tweet – appeared to have believed the false claim was accurate. The tweet remained on Rep. Miller-Meeks’ account more than 17 hours after being posted.

  • At least one veteran has reached out to KCRG-TV9 after hearing about the false claim, worried he was losing his benefits.

  • “I’ve fought my wars, I sacrificed my body and I was told the VA and federal government would be there to take care of us. All my brothers’ and sisters’ health are being held hostage,” the veteran wrote.

  • In a statement, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn called on Miller-Meeks to apologize.

  • “Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks needs to apologize to Iowa Veterans and President Biden for sharing a blatantly false, satirical story on social media and lending credence to its claims. Miller-Meeks couldn’t do the bare minimum of research – the source clearly states its satirical purpose as an outlet “…for real fake local commentary, news, and opinion,” Wilburn said. “This kind of behavior is an embarrassment to our state and a danger to our democracy. It’s also an insult to hard-working Iowa journalists.”

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