Nope. It is the American left.As Lee has made the media rounds over the last two weeks—giving interviews to
Vox and The Atlantic, writing op-eds for Politico, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, and the New York Daily News, and appearing on numerous cable news broadcasts—she says that she received nearly 100 threats, including two examples she shared with The Daily Beast.
“IF YOU TRY TO TAKE OUT PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU WILL BE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE!” one email read.
“I knew there was danger involved,” she said, and while she has concerns for her safety, “I was glad to be the face for this needed cause.”
The criticisms of Lee were amplified online—in largely inaccurate ways—by high-profile Trump supporters like the far-right Twitter personality Mike Cernovich, Pizzagate “investigator” Jack Posobiec, conspiracy theorist Mark Dice, and Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams, who called her “fake news” and then jokingly attempted to tie Lee’s warnings to the question of Trump’s racism.
Online trolls upped the ante, digging up a screenshot of Lee’s medical license that showed it had expired in Connecticut and positing that she was therefore not qualified. Similarly framed tweets often included a photo of Lee and contact information for the APA. In one instance, though, someone mistakenly posted the number for the American Psychological Association.
In fact, Lee maintains a license to practice in New York state. She used to have licenses in New York, Connecticut, and California, but only one active license is required by law, as she detailed to Snopes.
That didn’t stop sites like Free Republic and Campus Reform, in an article re-published by InfoWars, from questioning whether Lee was a licensed psychiatrist. (She is.) Breitbart sounded two dog whistles at once—highlighting the part of Lee’s bio that states she is “preparing students at Yale Law School to become asylum attorneys” in an article that also included a link to her work email address.
Lee says that while she’ll continue to work with lawmakers to press her case for a full neuropsychological evaluation of the president, she may make fewer public appearances going forward.
In an attempt to combat the misperceptions and outright mischaracterizations of her work, Lee created a Twitter account on Jan. 2. On Jan. 6, she deleted her account.
“I was shocked, actually,” she said. “It’s a venue that is designed for mob violence.”
Prior to leaving Twitter, Lee received a slew of replies, the vast majority of which questioned her credentials, used abusive language, promised to go after her job, and falsely labeled her a foreign agent, including threats of violence.
“I’m probably going to write something about the incredible damage it is doing to public mental health,” she added.
“I thought entertainment and advertising were bad. This is a thousand times worse.”
Violent Threats Force Democratic Lawmaker to Cancel Panel With Psychologists on Trump Inspiring Violence