Trump resort in Miami set to host conference bolstering conspiracy theories
A resort owned by former President Donald Trump is set to host a spring conference led by former national security adviser Michael Flynn and radio personality Clay Clark whose past speakers have echoed false claims about the 2020 election and COVID-19 as Trump launches a third bid for the White House.
The conference, known as the ReAwaken America Tour, had no official lineup of speakers for the May event at Trump's Doral hotel in Miami, but past events have featured speakers who have echoed conspiracy theories that Trump has supported, including Eric Trump, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, Overstock.com founder Patrick Byrne, Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk, and former chief of staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense Kash Patel.
Also included previously in the lineups are Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), attendees of the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, QAnon influencers, and some of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists in the country.
The former president is central to QAnon and its ideology. The conspiracy theory includes the unfounded belief that a cabal of famous Democratic politicians and liberal elites run a child sex trafficking ring, and that Trump 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.
Last July, Clark reportedly asked the crowd at a ReAwaken event, "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, how many of you believe Jesus is king? How many of you believe that Donald J. Trump is their president?"
A flier advertising the event twice names the Trump National Doral Miami resort as its location, and includes a photo of the resort. It would be the first time the tour held its conference at a Trump property. The Daily Beast was first to report the location of the conference.
The flier alludes to its hosts and speakers providing a "Great Re-Awakening," a QAnon dog whistle pointing to information posted on online message-board 8chan by "Q," the primary messenger in the conspiracy, in order to motivate followers ahead of prophesied mass arrests.
The Anti-Defamation League warned about the ReAwaken America events when they launched in early 2021, writing in a report that the extreme ideas like QAnon, and election fraud and anti-vaccine conspiracies are "fusing with other conspiracies that are creating doubt, fear and anger about the government and the country."
The conference news comes as Trump prepares for his first public 2024 presidential campaign event in South Carolina on Jan. 28, where he hopes to re-establish his political momentum after declaring his latest presidential run in November.
The Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.