Health and Freedom tour: Mike Lindell and Michael Flynn team up with anti-vax docs
As deaths continue to mount from Covid-19, a group of conservative Trump loyalists is determined to continue spreading vaccine disinformation. Mike Lindell, Roger Stone, and Michael Flynn have all been touring the country under the 'ReAwaken America' tour, but thanks to its use of anti-vax doctors, is also being dubbed the 'Health and Freedom' conference. The three Trump allies are using their tour to not just spread vaccine disinformation, but also election misinformation.
The tour comes at a difficult time for the US, where despite the wide availability of a life-saving vaccine, anti-vaxxers have helped contribute to a sharp rise in cases, and deaths. Conservatives like radio host Phil Valentine and dad-of-three Caleb Wallace passed away recently after contracting Covid-19. Others, like Pastor Danny Reeves, have changed their tune after spending time in the hospital. But people like Reeves are far and few in between, most conservatives even after getting Covid, refuse to promote or get vaccinated.
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It's created a situation where those that are yet to get jabbed are responsible for over 90% of new Covid-19 cases and around 99% of deaths. The number of deaths is now climbing to a peak last seen in February when vaccines first started rolling out for all eligible adults. In the midst of this, the 'Health and Freedom' tour continues to spread misinformation with the help of medical professionals.
What is the 'Health and Freedom' tour?
Organized by Tusla podcaster Clay Clark, the tour involves Flynn, Stone, and Lindell going around the USA to tout "unproven cures and vaccine skepticism." The tour has already visited the states of Florida, Oklahoma, California, and Michigan and is due to tour Colorado and Texas. As expected, the men have also been claiming Trump won the 2020 Presidential Election, despite failing to show any proof over eight months in. However, the real focus of the tour has been spreading health misinformation, including unapproved cures like ivermectin.
To make their case, the tour has also tapped into a large pool of anti-vax doctors, such as Simone Gold. The physician is the founder of 'America's Frontline Doctors', a right-wing group dedicated to spreading vaccine misinformation including cures likes ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. At an August 20 rally in Michigan, also on stage was Stella Immanuel, a Houston doctor who shot to fame in 2020 for suggesting America's health problems are the result of alien DNA and sperm from demons. Another doctor listed to speak is Scott Jensen, a former state senator who is now running for Governor of Minnesota. Also part of the tour are conservatives like Pastor Craig Hagin, Pastor Greg Locke, Sydney Powell, Lin Wood and Pastor Jackson Lahmayer.
The tour has drawn concerns from actual experts since it has often drawn audiences of hundreds of people despite high ticket prices. "Lies and disinformation campaigns can kill, both our fellow Americans and our democracy, and this ReAwaken America tour seems designed to accentuate these problems," a former lawyer at the DoJ, Gerry Hebert, told The Guardian. Irwin Redlener, who heads Columbia University’s Pandemic Resource and Recovery Initiative added, "I’m actually embarrassed by the fact that there are doctors fully into this craziness."
With the 2022 mid-terms just around the corner, the tour is also a perfect springboard for Trump loyalists seeking to get elected, like Jensen. Touting vaccine and election disinformation allow these candidates to become household names amongst their core group of supporters while benefitting from the financial might of Flynn, and Stone. However, their lies come at a deadly cost. On Saturday, September 4, the US recorded 562 deaths with a 7-day average of 1,544. Over 96,000 people were hospitalized as of September 3, a number last seen in late January.