A group of QAnon cultists in Texas took a break from drinking disinfectants to attend a conspiracy theorist-friendly event… What sounds like the beginning of a terrible joke actually could be, well, a terrible joke. As Daily Beast reports, the ReAwaken American Tour—a gathering of far-right thinkers—made a pit stop in Dallas, Texas, where they welcomed Eric Trump, Mike Lindell, Michael Flynn, and a swarm of QAnon followers who think that COVID is a lie and vaccines are a Deep State form of mind control. Needless to say, a good time was had by all… until several attendees began to fall ill with what seems to be the same mysterious illness.
The dozens of felled individuals had apparently all gathered together in the green room at the event, which would lead most of us to the obvious conclusion that they had all contracted COVID. But not these folks, many of whom don’t believe that COVID is really a thing at all. Their assumption? They were the victims of an anthrax attack… via fog machines.
Joe Oltmann, a far-right hanger-on who hosts the Conservative Daily podcast and attended the gathering, alleged on Sunday that he was the victim of an anthrax attack. “South Florida peeps. I have a [sic] urgent need! I have been sick with what could be an anthrax attack it turns out. More later on this,” he wrote on Telegram, a messaging app beloved by the extreme right. The ambiguous message was viewed by more than 130,000 people.
The anthrax rumor gained further steam as Oltmann floated on Telegram that fellow 2020 election conspiracy theorist Jovan Pulitzer—who had come in close contact with Oltmann during the ReAwaken America event—may have also come down with anthrax poisoning.
“Jovan Pulitzer is in a bad place right now. Please pray for him. Bring the spirit of healing upon him. In Jesus name, Amen,” Oltmann posted on Monday. “Might be Anthrax.”
Spoiler alert: It was not anthrax.
Daily Beast reached out to Lindell about the event, and whether he might have been affected by this possible anthrax attack, to which the PillowMan said: “Haha. What happened?” Lindell then clarified that he had spoken with Oltmann, who said that people had tested for COVID and it wasn’t that. Lindell also assured the outlet that he was healthy as… a person?
“I don’t have anything, I’m healthy as a person,” Lindell said.
(Via Daily Beast)