Michael Flynn ups the conspiracy ante, says COVID released by 'Global Elites'

Michael Flynn is pushing an evidence-free conspiracy theory that claims COVID-19 was released by a mysterious group of "global elites" who may be preparing to "impose" a new virus on the world.

Flynn, best known for a short stint as former President Donald Trump's national security adviser, made the remarks during a recent interview on The Alex Jones Show. Flynn told host Alex Jones that there would be a planned surge of COVID-19 despite sleuthing by "digital warriors" having uncovered the "truth" about the virus, although no credible evidence that would prove the sinister plot has been publicly presented anywhere.

Flynn said:

"We're going to see an uptick in other aspects of the COVID. There might even be another form of a SARS that's imposed on the international system ... because their little plan with COVID didn't work because too many people in the world of what I call the digital warriors, or the citizen journalists that are out there, they are fighting for the truth.

"The truth has been exposed about all the COVID tyranny that we are facing. So, I think what we're gonna see is potentially another type of virus that's imposed on the public. And I hope that that's not the case, but I've seen some indications of that in some of the statements by some of these global elite type of people."

Beyond creating "COVID tyranny," Flynn did not indicate what was the ultimate goal of the supposed elites involved in the pandemic-creating plot. He also predicted that the country's economy would soon be plunged into an intentional "controlled depression" and that the government would "shut down" all communications, although he conceded that "these are the worst-case scenarios."

During a different interview earlier this week, Flynn said that he was "not convinced that we are going to have national elections in 2022," claiming that Democrats would artificially tank the economy to stop Republicans from winning in the midterms. He said that Democrats hoped to "put people around the country under control of the federal government more and more and more over the coming year."

Flynn has also been heavily associated with the baseless pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory, which posits that a "deep state" controlled by satanic child-trafficking Democrats are locked in a secret battle with the former president. Flynn recently refuted claims from some QAnon followers that he practiced satanism. A short time later, he drew backlash after calling for theocracy by insisting that the U.S. should have only "one religion."

Flynn, a proponent of 2020 election conspiracy theories, has also advocated in favor of a military coup that would reinstate Trump to the White House by force. His time as part of the Trump administration lasted only weeks, having quickly resigned following reports that he lied about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He later pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI but was pardoned by Trump before he could be sentenced.