A right-wing conspiracy theorist died after becoming infected with the coronavirus, which he continued to deny was real.
Robert David Steele died at age 69, according to anti-vaccine “wellness” guru Mark Tassi, who suggested the U.S. Marine Corps and CIA veteran was killed by medical professionals at the hospital.
“They’re trying to make [Gov. Ron] DeSantis look bad,” Tassi said in an Instagram video. “Why? Because DeSantis is not going along with the agenda.”
Steele, a frequent Alex Jones guest who claimed NASA operates a child slave colony on Mars, denied his diagnosis in an update posted two weeks ago on his Public Intelligence Blog.
“With love to all of you, I survived!” Steele posted Aug. 17. “I went in at 77 oxygenation. I’m up to 94. I will not take the vaccination, though I did test positive for whatever they’re calling ‘COVID’ today, but the bottom line is that my lungs are not functioning.”
“The good news is that I will survive with a few days off,” Steele added. “I should be back up and at least functional soon. This is been a near death experience, very much like a new death experience the whole country is going through right now. We will never be the same because now we know that we’ve all been lied to about everything. But, now we also know that we can trust each other. I’m alive today because I had a network that put me into a good hospital in Florida.”
Steele gained a following among QAnon conspiracy theorists, many of whom posted on social media their belief that he was murdered, and he told reporters from Vice that he was the first to call the coronavirus a hoax.
“When we interviewed him for the @vice show QAnon: the search for Q he refused to wear a mask and claimed he was the first person to call covid a hoax,” tweeted journalist Jack Bryan. “So folks wear a mask and get vaccinated, crazy won’t protect you. ”
“And for clarification, Robert David Steele led the charge on anti vaccine/covid denialism,” Bryan added, “and I believe he is therefore likely responsible for more American deaths than say Osama Bin Laden, so no I’m not saying this is sad news.”