« To all of my patriots, do not comply, » Valentina Gomez, a self-described « America First-MAGA » Republican, said in a video.
A new mpox outbreak is driving a « do not comply » movement among conspiracy theorists who fear that health-related lockdowns will affect this year’s presidential election.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency after a new strain of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, killed at least 450 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The highly contagious disease is now spreading across parts of Central and East Africa.
A day later, Sweden’s public health agency announced that it had confirmed the first known case of the new strain outside of Africa, prompting warnings that a « coordinated international response is essential » to stop the spread of mpox, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Wednesday marks the second time in just over two years that the WHO has declared mpox as a global emergency.
The outbreak has generated fears that mpox could cause the next pandemic, resulting in global shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. Those worries have caused some panic among those who point out that the threat of a deadly virus comes during an election year again.
« Do not comply! We will not comply! Another election, another pandemic scare. Monkeypox – Imagine that. Get out of here with that Mpox nonsense. We will not listen to the WHO », a MAGA supporter said in response to a video of Valentina Gomez, a former GOP candidate for Missouri’s secretary of state, on X (formerly Twitter).
In the video, Gomez, a self-described « America First-MAGA » Republican, said that she never got vaccinated against COVID and that she was « definitely not getting vaccinated for the monkeypox bull**** that is coming right on time for election season.
