On Monday, Newsmax White House Correspondent Emerald Robinson falsely warned her “Christian” Twitter followers that Covid-19 vaccines contain a tracking bioluminescent marker called “LUCIFERASE.” This was apparently a bridge too far for the right-wing outlet, which retaliated on Thursday by taking Robinson off-air. Twitter has also taken the tweet down, citing rule violations.
In a statement, Newsmax told The Hill: “Newsmax is currently reviewing the posts and during that period, Ms. Robinson will not be on air but continue with duties for the network,” the outlet said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday. Hopefully, those “duties” do not include reporting on covid or the vaccine.
Of course, Newsmax shouldn’t be surprised—this came from a reporter who has pinned the following tweet:
And Robinson’s latest Substack post is titled:
“What is Luciferase?
How a firefly enzyme that glows might herald the end of the world.”
Robinson’s latest tweet about “Luciferase,” clearly attempting to reference another name for Satan in Christianity, parrots an alt-right conspiracy theory. Of course, there are many Facebook posts that read “MODERNA VACCINE CONTAINS “LUCIFERIN” IN A 66.6 SOLUTION. YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP” and similar claims.
Contrary to its name, luciferase has nothing to do with the devil—it’s an enzyme that produces light and is found in luminescent organisms, such as fireflies. It is not an ingredient in any of the vaccines, according to lists published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but it was used to help scientists see how viruses and vaccines interact with cells during research on the virus.
Perhaps we can come up with some other (false) definitions for LUCIFERASE that Robinson can use instead, maybe in a game of Balderdash:
- A shitty club in Miami
- A brand of Poppers
- The name of a pet Chihuahua
- A new show on Netflix set in an unnamed suburban town about “normal” teenagers who turn into devils at night
- The next Voldemort
- A new Charli XCX album
- An autocorrect