In the aftermath of the 2020 election cycle, evidence from Zoom call recordings has surfaced, indicating efforts by Biden-Harris campaign staff to address what they describe as “disinformation,” specifically concerning questions around Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities during his presidential campaign.
These videos, as revealed by journalist Matt Orfalea, highlight discussions involving high-level campaign figures, including former Digital Director Rob Flaherty, who has since taken a role with Kamala Harris’s team.
Flaherty disclosed on a call with the UK activist group HOPE not hate, held on November 18, 2020, the creation of a DNC initiative aimed at identifying and mitigating false narratives on social media, notably around Biden’s mental health.
Timothy Durigan, identified in a May 2021 announcement from Dem List as the leading analyst for the DNC’s Counter-Disinformation Program, and Rebecca Rinkevich, previously the Biden campaign’s Director of Rapid Response and later the deputy director of digital strategy at the White House, were also part of the narrative.
Their conversation shed light on the comprehensive approach taken to track and respond to misinformation through detailed online behavior analysis, leading to targeted action against specific content.
Durigan, with a history of working with the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016, has continued his role within the program, as evidenced by his LinkedIn profile and the program’s ongoing feature on the DNC’s website.
This initiative, as cited by Rinkevich, contributed to a significant number of votes for Biden, particularly in key states where his margin of victory was narrow, according to NPR data.
Rinkevich pointed to a noticeable decrease in public concern over Biden’s mental sharpness throughout the campaign, an achievement she partly attributes to the misinformation counter-efforts. Nonetheless, Biden’s subsequent decision not to run for reelection in 2024 came amid growing scrutiny over his cognitive state, highlighted by his debate performance in June 2023 and other public instances raising concern.
Durigan, in a 2021 interview with the New Democrat Network, emphasized the pivotal role of tech companies in content regulation on their platforms, critiquing the system’s tendency to amplify fear-based content.
This commentary aligns with broader criticisms around tech censorship, especially following controversial actions like the suppression of a New York Post story on Hunter Biden by prominent social media platforms and the varied bans on former President Donald Trump post-January 6th Capitol riot.
This sequence of events underscores the complex intersection of politics, digital information dissemination, and the contentious debate over what constitutes legitimate oversight versus censorship.
