Donald Trump And The Greatest Carnival Of All Time: Conspiracy Theories!

5 min read

Hi everyone, I’m Rick Barron, your host, and welcome to my podcast, That’s Life, I Swear

Our former President, Donald Trump, is planning to host an event this coming Spring of 2023. The event's topic has nothing to do with his planned run for the 2024 Presidential Election. The purpose of event is, wait for it, for reinforcing the claim of conspiracy theories.

Let’s jump into this 

ReAwaken America tour. Courtesy of: Rolling Stone

Not, trust me here, I’m not making this up. There is no official lineup of speakers for the planned May event at Trump’s Doral hotel in Miami. But there is a name for the conference. I must say, it has a captivating tone to it, the ReAwaken America Tour. 

The tour has been happening across the country, but the tour's focus in Trump’s backyard is the ongoing brainwashing of conspiracy theories. What information about the event known thus far is the event will be headlined by QAnon promoters and other conspiracy theorists, marking a new connection between the ex-president and his party’s far-right fringe.

Not knowing who will be there, one could look back at past tours to get a sense of what will occur. Guessing something along the lines of very conservative celebrities, political individuals who swear Jewish laser beams caused the fires in California, Satan-worshippers, Stop the Steal, and those who center on fabricated claims of any and all conspiracy theories. 

Michael Flynn and Clay Clark. Courtesy of: Politics PA

The ReAwaken American tour was launched shortly after Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential defeat. The tour is led by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and right-wing media personality Clay Clark, a business coach, entrepreneur and former mayoral candidate in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The show [which it is] was conceived in the months after former national security adviser Michael Flynn received a pardon from Trump. Flynn connected with Clay Clark, an Oklahoma man hosting local, anti-lockdown gatherings during the pandemic. The two put on their first event in Tulsa in April 2021. Sounds like these two were made for each other.

One of Clark’s theories is his belief that the world’s elites are involved in the cannibalistic practice of “spirit cooking.” He claims that he was shaken after spending a night uncovering the practice online, cross his heart and hope to die. 

Various ongoing personalities attend these events to give credence to its cause. Such individuals as Trump loyalist Kash Patel, Eric Trump, and hardcore conspiracy theorists pushing QAnon and ongoing COVID-19 denial fanatics. 

As of January 2023, most of the ReAwaken America events have taken place at churches, except when an event occurred at the Stateline Speedway in Post Falls, Idaho. 

The ReAwaken America Tour and similar movements promoting right-wing and far-right conspiracy theories aim to spread their ideas and gain support for their political agenda. These groups often promote a sense of urgency and claim that the country is in danger from various perceived threats, and they call for their followers to take action to "save" America. Their rhetoric can also include anti-government, anti-media, and anti-elitist sentiments, as well as calls for a return to traditional values and a rejection of progressive social and political changes.

Like all past ReAwaken America events, there’s money to be made. Think $500 handbags and $3,300 exercise equipment that bear the ‘ReAwaken America’ name on it.

Plenty of money does change hands at these events. Dietary supplements, fluoride-free toothpaste, patriotic coffee mugs and children's books like "The Cat In The Maga Hat" are all on sale. Bedazzled purses in the shape of a gun or the Titanic (a metaphor for the country) cost $500.

One booth was selling vibrating platforms you can stand on instead of exercising. "Ten minutes on this is equal to an hour at the gym," said the vendor. The units go for $3,300 each, a steal compared to other models on the market, it was claimed. The vendor calins they sell about 150 units on an average at these events. 

Holding the event at Trumps Doral hotel in Miami, will be a first. I can see the Trump paraphernalia already. T-shirts, pens, and I’m sure Trump will have another series of Trump Digital Trading Cards, with a focus on conspiracy theories.

QAnon knows that Trump is central to its ideology. For example, one of the unbelievable conspiracy theories includes a stupid belief that a group of famous Democratic politicians and liberal elites run a child sex trafficking ring. QAnon believes that if Trump wins the presidency, he will arrange for mass arrests and military tribunals of corrupt politicians, among other outlandish ideas. The FBI has warned that conspiracy theories like QAnon pose a growing domestic terrorism threat.

Truth Social. Courtesy of: New York Times

As of late, Trump has promoted and embraced QAnon. For example, in September of 2022, using his Truth Social platform, Donald reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words “The Storm is Coming.” In QAnon lore, the “storm” refers to Trump’s final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and potentially executed on live television.

He continues to publish articles about QAnon on Truth Social promoting its cause. Ironically, in 2020, when he claimed that while he didn’t know much about QAnon, he couldn’t disprove its conspiracy theory.

The man is out of office but, Donald Trump continues to cast out conspiracy theories as a political mobilizing tool. He uses it as a means to galvanize anger at the liberal establishment, to validate racial resentment and to unite voters who feel oppressed by what they see as a dominant socially progressive culture.

Trumps conspiracy theory world. Courtesy of Time Magazine

What's more astonishing is that many Republicans believe that the Democratic Party and its elected officials conspired to steal the 2020 election. I mean they just won’t let this go!

In a poll conducted by the Univerity of Massachusetts Amherst in January of 2022, 71 percent of Republicans, which accounts for approximately 52 million voters, believe in their hearts that Donald Trump won the 2020 election, despite indisputable evidence to the contrary. Still, the Republican Party has committed unequivocally and relentlessly to promoting this false claim.

I found another poll by Economist/YouGov, taken in March of 2022, to collect data on Americans' opinions on well-known conspiracy theories such as vaccine-autism links, sex trafficking, and Democrats. The poll did a large brushstroke to learn what driving force is in these theories. Take a look at the survey on my episode script, as it’s fascinating. You can find the link on my podcast script by going to Apple podcast and clicking on the link to my website.

One more thing from the survey.  The data conveys the belief in some conspiracies is linked to views on QAnon, an internet conspiracy theory and political movement that first emerged in 2017 on the anonymous website 4chan. 

You just can’t make this stuff up.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast, it’s still a mystery who will be the key speakers for the two-day event in May. Being the event will be held Trump’s Doral hotel in Miami, it’s a fair guess the speaker’s list could include several prominent conspiracy theorists. 

Ann Vandersteel. Courtesy of Daily Beast

Along with Flynn, an outspoken QAnon booster himself, the marketing flyers feature pictures of QAnon promoters Ann Vandersteel who promoted the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory.

Another speaker is Scott McKay whose claim to fame is engaging in hostile activism at school board meetings against mask mandates. 

If you care to see a partial list of 2021-22 speakers that have appeared at past events, go to the Wikipedia site, that you can find on the script for this episode. When you open the link, scroll down to the bottom page to see ‘List of Speakers’. I must say the list has some interesting names. For example, would you believe Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on the list?

The upcoming event parallels Trump’s announcement to throw his hat into the ring for the upcoming 2024 presidential campaign. Just the thought of that notion gives me goosebumps and a frightening reflection of what may be coming. 

What can we learn from this story? What’s the take away

Get your sunscreen ready.

Marjorie Taylor Greene. Courtesy of: WBUR

I wonder if Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon spiritual believer, will have a booth where she’ll have t-shirts and calendars, calling out her conspiracy theory claiming Jews set California’s wildfires with space lasers a few years back.  

As for Trump wanting to hold such an event only proves he has the mind of a clown. Seriously, there is no brain in this man’s head, zippo!

I can’t imagine he’s staging the event at his Doral hotel to make money off the fools that attend. So, no, that can’t be it.

Well, there you go. That's life, I swear.

For further information regarding the material covered in this episode, I invite you to visit my website, which you can find on either Apple Podcasts/iTunes or Google Podcasts, for show notes calling out key pieces of content mentioned and the episode transcript.

As always, I thank you for listening. 

Be sure to subscribe here or wherever you get your podcast, so you don't miss an episode. See you soon.