DHS: Domestic Extremists Pose 'Significant' Threat to Election Workers

Above: A booth highlights efforts to sign up voters in Sept. 2024 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Image copyright: Jeff Swensen/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

  • The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday released its 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment, in which the agency warned that domestic extremists would be the "most significant physical threat to government officials, voters, and elections-related personnel and infrastructure."

  • DHS said it has monitored a rise in tactics such as "hoax bomb threats, swatting, doxxing, and mailing white powder letters, intended to instill fear and disrupt campaign and election operations."


The Spin

Democratic narrative

These reports are unsurprising because America's far right is creating some of the most incendiary rhetoric ever, including telling millions of Trump supporters that Democrats are trying to kill him. While the Biden administration wants to cool things down, the Trump camp continues to incite hatred against Democrats, immigrants, and the government.

Republican narrative

The Democrat-controlled DHS can't be trusted. It has given over $1B to illegal immigrants over the last two years, refused to give proper Secret Service protection to Trump, and worked with Big Tech to censor speech. The Biden administration is the biggest election threat, but it's projecting its crimes onto conservatives.

Cynical narrative

For decades, the executive branch has been given increased power, effectively turning it into an autocracy. In order to grow this power, the government exaggerates threats to scare the American voters. Both Democratic and Republican presidents are guilty of creating the unnecessary fear and anxiety felt every four years.


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