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.”
Please stop spreading stupid rumors about marshall law.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 16, 2020
COMPLETELY FALSE
We will continue to see closings & restrictions on hours of non-essential businesses in certain cities & states. But that is NOT marshall law.
The typo led “Marshall Law” to trend on Twitter as users ripped the senator for error:
https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/1239573741165776898
A leading GOP official thinks "martial" law is spelled "marshall" law -that sums up the idiocy that is the Trump GOP (BTW "Marshall Law" Sounds like a TV show on the USA network from the 2000's ) https://t.co/7qgaTQWKAx
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) March 16, 2020
Who is this fellow Marshall Law everyone is talking about? Is he related to Jude Law?
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 16, 2020
Boy, if people don't stop talking about Marshall, he might want ask Trump to impose martial law so he can force everyone to leave Mr. Law alone.
"marshall law"
— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) March 16, 2020
The REAL apocalypse is people typing this instead of MARTIAL law. https://t.co/RvawHBxOOK
https://twitter.com/WayneDupreeShow/status/1239585013450096643
Rubio really tweeted "marshall law" pic.twitter.com/rocVlC67kG
— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) March 16, 2020
Marshall Law was Marco Rubio's best friend in college and he would like you to stop bullying him by spreading rumors. https://t.co/lyTgo6SiOD
— Dan Baer (@danbbaer) March 16, 2020
Merriam-Webster Dictionary weighed in and shared an article on the difference between martial and marshal:
'Martial': an adjective referring to an army or to military life
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) March 16, 2020
'Marshal': a noun or verb, often used in reference to an officer or the act of leading
'Marshall': a variant of 'marshal,' usually found in proper nounshttps://t.co/rVoDwiFKFC
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!”
Hey folks, we’re not shutting down the United States. Lots of serious mis-information being peddled out there!
— Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli (@HomelandKen) March 16, 2020
The White House National Security Council sought to dispel such rumors on Sunday night in a tweet, “Text message rumors of a national [quarantine] are FAKE. There is no national lockdown.”
