Conspiracy World Quells Paranoia About Post-Inauguration ‘Epidemic’ – Mother Jones

Mother Jones illustration; Getty

in the lead Ahead of Donald Trump’s second inauguration, professional conspiracy peddlers are working hard to find ways to stave off panic and paranoia even as their preferred candidate is about to take office.

Some have suggested that the Deep State is already trying to undermine Trump’s second presidency by plotting a civil war or ways to prevent him from entering the White House. But these ideas are a bit too vague and lack the urgency of a good, sellable conspiracy theory. Many players in the space have settled on something more specific: Claiming that a “deadly wave of the epidemic,” as one put it, will hit the United States starting January 21.

As with any conspiracy theory that has a chance of taking root, this concept has the advantage of being drawn from real life. Bird flu cases are increasing; How Trump responds to this public health emergency could be of great importance if it continues to spread. big part from his second presidency. And last week, a mysterious flu-like outbreak defined After killing dozens of people in Congo, it’s on the loose with a new strain of mpox spreading here too elsewhere in eastern and southern Africa.

But the real focus of this latest round of Trump-affiliated conspiracy peddling isn’t an actual viral threat, said Dr. It is a gross distortion of Peter Hotez’s words. a recognized expert in his field.

while appearing on MSNBC “There are some big-picture developments,” Hotez said on Dec. 4 to talk about preventing infectious diseases under the looming Trump presidency, citing avian flu, new strains of Covid and other potential pandemics. “All of this will fall on the Trump administration on January 21. “We need a really good team to handle this.”

Hotez’s simple quote explaining how Donald Trump and his team will have to confront the possibility of infectious disease outbreaks when he becomes president has instead been adopted by people with a vested interest in misunderstanding it as a dark prophecy or a threat to deliberately spread disease.

Alex Jones was quick to take advantage of the comments and said: information wars It was stated that Hotez’s statements were “an attempt to terrorize” and also encouraged “forced shootings, lockdowns, tyranny and further global collapse”.

“Politically do what we say or we will publish this,” Jones added. “That’s the message.”

The same sentiment was echoed by filmmaker Mikki Willis, who also produced it. plandemicPseudo-scientific, pseudo-documentary series that argues that Covid-19 was deliberately created and introduced as part of a cruel global conspiracy. Willis posted on Telegram about Hotez’s comments, adding: “Looks like all we have to do to avoid the next outbreak is stay home on January 21. Cool.” Dozens of verified Twitter accounts whose paid access to the site boosts their posts and replies, He also shared videos of Hotez’s comments. in dark suspicious ways. An article like this is just viewed three million times.

The distortion of his words led to a sudden wave of abuse aimed at Hotez; conspiratorial and anti-vaccine site Natural News costume roundup is confirmed Online comments insulting the doctor are collected; including one that suggested he should be arrested and jailed so he could be forced to “explain how he knew this.”

Because this type of conspiracy is based on the idea that another pandemic is about to emerge, it has also created a useful and profitable news source for people looking to sell fake anti-pandemic products. Stories about Hotez information wars And Natural News is surrounded by advertisements for various supplements, private label colloidal silver products, and Natural NewsFounder Mike Adams’ nine-hour audiobook about surviving what he calls a “global reset.”

Some of these products are expensive: Video site Brighteon, which bills itself as a YouTube alternative and hosts mostly conspiracy content. Natural News‘ sells a “Next Pandemic Preparation Survival” bundle with an original price of $600. This program features interviews with various characters from the world of medical freedom, anti-vaccination and pseudo-medicine, including many who gained notoriety in the early days of the Covid epidemic. Among them is Houston doctor Stella Immanuel. Hydroxychloroquine became a cure for Covidbut gynecological problems such as endometriosis for having sex with demons; Bryan Ardis, a retired chiropractor who developed a complex conspiracy theory about snake venom in vaccines; prominent anti-vaccine lawyer Thomas Renz; and former biochemistry researcher Dr. Judy Mikovits There has been widespread misinformation about vaccines for years. before appearing as main character plandemic.

All this fear-mongering and scapegoating ultimately serves multiple purposes: to increase skepticism about the next pandemic (before it even occurs, whatever that may be), as well as to preemptively create hostility to any vaccine that might be developed to combat it. fake treatments.

But there’s more lurking beneath the surface. Hotez is Jewish; He wrote on Twitter that he saw A disturbing increase in the overlap of anti-science and anti-Semitic contentHe is repeatedly sent to his home, including flyers with syringes drawn in the shape of a swastika. Its thread too selected A past claim by prominent anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr., whom Trump tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, implicated Covid-19 was designed To save Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.

“Our anti-vax friends seem energetic for some reason,” Hotez said wroteI am sharing a screenshot of another threat. “It won’t take long to understand why. I predict we’ll have a tough few years ahead.”