Michael Flynn has had quite a year. It was the day before Thanksgiving 2020, for example, when the former White House national security advisor received an extraordinarily corrupt presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
Less than a month later, Flynn plotted with the outgoing president in the Oval Office, exploring ways to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The retired general reportedly raised the prospect of seizing voting machines, deploying U.S. troops, and declaring martial law as part of the anti-election scheme.
Flynn’s relationship with reality did not improve over the course of 2021. In the spring, for example, he appeared to endorse a military coup. In the late summer, Flynn suggested people may be exposed to Covid-19 vaccines by way of salad dressing.
A couple of weeks ago, he made the case that the United States should have a single religion. Presumably, Flynn’s faith tradition would be the one receiving special recognition.
And as the HuffPost noted, the retired general is still at it:
Donald Trump’s former national security adviser and pardoned felon, Michael Flynn, has offered up his latest batch of conspiracy nonsense, this time suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic was orchestrated by unnamed “global elites” who could be preparing to unleash a new virus on humanity.
Sitting down with Alex Jones, Flynn said unnamed nefarious forces had a “little plan with Covid,” which was thwarted by “digital warriors.” He added that he’s nevertheless concerned about the possibility of conspirators unleashing “another type of virus” that he fears might be “imposed on the public.”
Flynn added, “I hope 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.” Every time I see reports like these, my first instinct is to look back and marvel at the fact that, just four years ago, this guy had access to the nation’s most important and sensitive secrets — before he became a convicted felon for lying about his secret communications with Russia. But we need not be entirely retrospective about the retired general. It was just last year when Trump — during his re-election campaign — told reporters that he was open to re-hiring Flynn. Asked specifically if he might invite Flynn back into the executive branch, the then-president replied, “I would certainly consider it, yeah. I would. I think he’s a fine man.” Chances are, Flynn’s days in a position of authority are over. But as he goes over the edge, and descends deeper into the political fringe, it’s worth remembering that if Trump were to reclaim power, the Republican may yet want to find a place for his disgraced former White House national security adviser.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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