Officials in the United States are trying to tamp down rumors about a national quarantine.
The Associated Press reported on Monday that intelligence officials found that disinformation is being spread in the country, by foreign entities, about a possible national quarantine or implementation of martial law to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tried to reassure Americans that the government was not implementing martial law, but he instead sparked a fresh round of mockery for a in typo his tweet.
“Please stop spreading stupid rumors about marshall law. COMPLETELY FALSE.”
The typo led “Marshall Law” to trend on Twitter as users ripped the senator for error:
https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/1239573741165776898
https://twitter.com/WayneDupreeShow/status/1239585013450096643
Merriam-Webster Dictionary weighed in and shared an article on the difference between martial and marshal:
Officials told the AP that over the past few days, residents of several states have received false or misleading text messages claiming that states will begin lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus.
Additionally, the officials told the AP that the foreign actors are trying to sow fear in the U.S. by disseminating such rumors.
Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli dismissed claims that the federal government was “shutting down the United States.”
“Hey folks, we’re not shutting down the United States. Lots of serious misinformation being peddled out there!”
The White House National Security Council sought to dispel such rumors on Sunday night in a tweet, “Text message rumors of a national are FAKE. There is no national lockdown.”