Former President Donald Trump joined a “Reawaken America” QAnon rally through a phone call over the weekend, inviting his former national security adviser Michael Flynn — whom he fired less than a month into the job — back to the White House if he wins.
“I will say General Flynn, he is some general, he is some man. He took abuse like nobody could’ve handled and he came out bigger, better, stronger than ever before. We love him,” Trump told a crowd of attendees who gathered at his Doral resort in Miami for the Christian nationalist conference, a weekend full of appearances from right-wing figures and conspiracy theorists.
The retired Army general-turned QAnon influencer had a short stint at the White House in 2017 before Trump asked him to resign after it was revealed that Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with a Russian ambassador.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russians and was the only White House official to be convicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia probe.
In 2020, Trump pardoned Flynn.
And now it seems that Trump wants the disgraced former national security adviser and conspiracy theorist back, at least for now.
“You just have to stay healthy because we’re bringing you back,” Trump said during the call as the crowd cheered loudly in reaction to his announcement.
Flynn, who now lives in Sarasota, Florida, has become a leader in the far-right Christian nationalist movement since launching his “Reawaken America” tour, a traveling circus-type sideshow where Flynn and other MAGA leaders promote Christian nationalist ideology and QAnon conspiracy theories. In previous speeches Flynn has asserted that America is in the midst of “spiritual warfare,” claimed that public schools are teaching “filth” and “pornography” and likened former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to a “demon.”
The “ReAwaken America” Tour has other far-right figures like Flynn, including other MAGA allies, extremists like election deniers, anti-vaxxers and Jan. 6 sympathizers. The tour began in 2021 and has since promoted popular MAGAland conspiracy theories like the false yet popular right-wing belief that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump. Flynn claims the gathering seeks to save the nation by exposing the truth about fraud in elections, healthcare and the media.
