Vice News on Wednesday reported on a new trend among some in the anti-vaccine community who are now referring to themselves as “purebloods.”

The publication notes that the term is what the villainous Death Eaters in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books refer to themselves as, and that Rowling created the term with the intention of “drawing parallels with the Nazi doctrine of the ‘master race.'”

While it’s unclear when anti-vaxxers started calling themselves “purebloods,” it seems the term really took off when conservative TikToker influencer Lyndsey Marie used it in a video over the weekend in which she said, “From now on, I refuse to be referred to as ‘unvaccinated’… I want everyone to now call me Pureblood.”‘

That video has since gone on to get around 250,000 views and has been shared roughly 5,000 times across the platform, Vice writes.

The term was such a hit that Marie is now selling merchandise with the slogan, “PUREBLOOD; Unmasked, Unvaxxed, Unafraid.”

While Marie may claim to be “unafraid” of the novel coronavirus, it doesn’t chance the fact that more than 650,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and the virus was the third-leading cause of death last year, trailing only heart disease and cancer.

Image: Screenshot via TikTok

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), best known as the “insurrectionist” who raised his fist high up in the air as he helped incite the January 6 attackers and rioters in front of the Capitol building, is demanding the resignations of President joe Biden’s Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense – and threatening to block confirmation of their desperately-needed national security nominees until they do.

“I will not consent to the nomination of any nominee for the Department of Defense or for the Department of State until Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken and Jake Sullivan resign,” Hawley vowed on the floor of the Senate Tuesday. Sullivan is the United States National Security Advisor to President Biden.

GOP Sen. Josh Hawley says he will place a hold on “every single civilian nominee” for the State and Defense departments unless Blinken and Austin resign.

He said that his holds will apply to any civilian nominee at the deputy and secretary levels, as well as ambassadors.

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 14, 2021

Hawley’s threat exposes his desire to further hamper U.S. national security, as he did on January 6.

“Each of these departments remain gutted after the Trump administration,” the left-leaning super PAC Vote Vets said on social media, referring to the Departments of State and Defense. “They each need nominees quickly approved. Hawley’s grandstanding hurts our security. But what else do you expect from a traitor?”

Justice Correspondent for The Nation, Elie Mystal, called Hawley a “fascist who supported a coup d’etat,” and “won’t consent to Department of Defense or State nominees until everybody else acquiesces to his whims?”

“This is only news if you are unfamiliar with Josh Hawley,” Mystal added.

Former National Security Spokesman and Special Assistant to President Barack Obama, Tommy Vietor, also weighed in:

The 9/11 Commission specifically cited vacancies in national security jobs as making the US more vulnerable before the September 11th attacks. This performative idiocy by @HawleyMO is exactly the kind of preening political bullshit that puts us at risk. https://t.co/saHsJMRAlc

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) September 14, 2021

Here’s Sen. Hawley:

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who famously raised a fist in solidarity to the 1/6 insurrectionists, says he won’t consent to any Department of Defense or State nominations until Sec. of State Antony Blinken, Defense Sec. Gen. Lloyd Austin and NSA Jake Sullivan resign. pic.twitter.com/ckMSU1Phc5

— The Recount (@therecount) September 14, 2021

Saturday’s rally in support of Jan. 6 Capitol rioters has put GOP lawmakers in an “awkward” position — because a significant portion of the party’s base believes the insurrection was “justified” and is calling for “civil war,” according to a new report from Politico.

Facing this “uncomfortable reality,” GOP lawmakers have done their best to change the subject or ignore questions about the “Justice for J6” rally organized by a former Trump campaign aide — which law-enforcement officials fear could become violent.

Even Republicans who’ve called Capitol rioters “political prisoners” — such as Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Louie Gohmert of Texas — have not said whether they plan to attend the Justice for J6 rally.

However, one GOP lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity acknowledged that the rally has created a “conundrum” for the party’s leaders in Congress.

“The majority of the Republican base feels that Jan. 6 was justified. And because those people didn’t have arms, they shouldn’t be incarcerated right now,” said the lawmaker, who reportedly is from a safe red district.

“Every day, I hear the word ‘Civil War’ — every day,” the lawmaker told Politico, adding when he returned to his district after Jan. 6, he “expected sympathy and disgust about the attack on Congress and instead heard constituents commenting in support.”

According to Politico, “Other Capitol Hill offices reported similar calls from constituents who insisted the rioters did not go far enough in the weeks after the attack, which included more than 1,000 violent acts against law enforcement and is tied to multiple deaths of rallygoers as well as police officers.”

While Democratic leaders say the Capitol is more prepared for Saturday’s rally than it was prior to Jan. 6, “Monday’s announcement of the arrest of a man found with a bayonet and machete and parked near the Democratic National Committee headquarters, just blocks from the Capitol, has heightened concerns about violence,” Politico reports.

Read more here.

Image by Brett Davis via Flickr and a CC license