Trump loyalists Michael Flynn and MyPillow CEO Michael Lindell team up with anti-vaxx doctors for 'health and freedom' tour to spread pandemic disinformation, report says
- Trump loyalists and anti-vaxx doctors have been touring the country for 'health and freedom' conferences.
- Experts say the events fuel disinformation about the election and the pandemic, according to The Guardian.
- Speakers billed at the events include Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and Michael Lindell.
A group of Donald Trump loyalists and anti-vaxx doctors are embarking on a series of events across the US to fuel disinformation about the election and pandemic, a report from The Guardian says.
The "ReAwaken America" tour, which features high-profile Trump allies including Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and Lin Wood, has already held events in states including Florida and Michigan and has upcoming events scheduled in Colorado and Texas.
The events, dubbed by organizers as "health and freedom" conferences, have been orchestrated by Clay Clark, a conservative podcast host.
The events come as COVID-19 cases are sharply rising across the country as it battles with the more contagious Delta variant and Republican states attempt to pass laws restricting voting rights.
At one of the events in July, Trump donor and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell falsely claimed that in the 2020 election, Donald Trump won 80 million votes and Joe Biden received less than 68 million.
Donald Trump actually received 74 million votes in the election, and Joe Biden won with more than 81 million votes.
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador, said he was participating in the tour to criticize pandemic safety measures, which he called "COVID craziness."
Flynn, who regularly appears at events that perpetuate conspiracy theories, including QAnon, previously said that COVID-19 was fabricated to distract from the 2020 election.
The tour also features appearances from vaccine skeptic doctors, including Stella Immanuel, who gained notoriety last year after claiming that sex dreams involving demons cause illnesses and alien DNA were used in medications.
Another doctor billed to speak at the conference is Scott Jensen, a Minnesota politician running for governor.
Jenson was previously a candidate for PolitiFact's "lie of the year" after he falsely claimed that doctors were overcounting COVID-19 patients to receive more funding.
Lawyer Gerry Hebert, who spent over two decades handling voting rights at the Justice Department, told the Guardian that the tour was perpetuating lies about the 2020 election being stolen, despite numerous failed court cases and recounts.
"Lies and disinformation campaigns can kill both our fellow Americans and our democracy, and this ReAwaken America tour seems designed to accentuate these problems," Hebert told the paper.
"I'm actually embarrassed by the fact that there are doctors fully into this craziness," Irwin Redlener, who leads Columbia University's Pandemic Resource and Recovery Initiative, told The Guardian.
Experts told the newspaper that these events were promoting Trump surrogates ahead of the midterms next year and the 2024 presidential election.
Tickets for the events range from $250 for general admission or $500 for VIP. Pastors are eligible for half-price tickets.