QAA Podcast - Episode 204: The Reawakening Tour feat Sam Kestenbaum

Episode Date: September 27, 2022

Once a DJ, Oral Roberts University misfit and entrepreneur mindset guru, Clay Clark has become the organizer of a far-right, religious, QAnon-baiting live show with headliners like Michael Flynn and the Trump sons. Sam Kestenbaum, who wrote a piece about it for Rolling Stone, joins us to discuss this traveling gong show. Tickets to our tour: http://tour.qanonanonymous.com Subscribe for $5 a month to get an extra episode of QAA every week + access to the full Trickle Down 10-part miniseries and all upcoming extra series: http://www.patreon.com/QAnonAnonymous Sam Kestenbaum: https://twitter.com/skestenbaum / https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/clay-clark-reawaken-america-maga-tour-trump-1234594574/ New Merch: http://merch.qanonanonymous.com Music by Pontus Berghe. Editing by Corey Klotz.

What's up QAA listeners? The fun games have begun. I found a way to connect to the internet. I'm sorry, boy. Welcome listener to chapter 204 of the QAnonanon Anonymous podcast, the reawaken America tour episode. As always, we are your host, Jake Rockatansky, Julian Field, and Travis View.

This week, we are going to be discussing a very strange and jocular man named Clay Clark and his reawaken America tour that has included a who's who of maga and religious grifters. To dive deeper into this, we have a guest. His name is Sam Kestimbauman. He recently wrote a fantastic article

for Rolling Stone on this exact topic. But before that, QAnon News. So there's been a lot of articles recently published about Trump embracing QAnon. This is partly due to the fact that Trump is continually amplifying Q&N accounts and Q&N content on his social media platform, Truth Social.

And this is partly because he played a Q&N connected song as recent rally in Ohio. Specifically, he played an instrumental track called WWG1WGA by an artist that goes by the name of Richard Feel Good. Yeah, well, I feel good when I hear it, especially when the vocal track on it is just some guy ranting about the decadent nation and how it needs to be cleansed with fire. Yeah, very disturbing stuff. Now, Trump previously used the same track for a video posted on True Social in early August. So this is a track he's used a few times now.

But one thing I do want to say is that it's not a new development of, like, Trump embracing QAnon. This is something that he's been doing, like, for years. In 2019, he's when he still has a Twitter account, he retweeted Q&N. accounts hundreds of times. In 2019, he retweeted Lisa May Crowley, who was a huge Q&O promoter. In 2020, he retweeted Praying Medic, who was like one of the biggest Q&M promoters. However, I've never seen him retweet himself with a Q-PIN, with The Storm is Coming, and where we go on, we go on in one photo. I suppose so.

That's a fun, new development. Can we celebrate? But it's just a continuation of the old development. Yes, it is. It's not like, you're right. come out of nowhere. See, this is the problem. Travis's poor mind.

It's like been four years. And so now he's like, he's like a perennial hipster. He's like, no, okay? I was fucking, this shit was happening before, man. No, but like, look, I mean, we've talked about this before. It's like, this is, this is all he has left, really. You know, when it's kind of all he's ever had because before he used to also do this. Yeah, I mean, but it's just how he rolls.

He's not desperate. The walls are not closing in. He's fucking thriving. He's doing great. He's being his best self. Yeah, it's like, he's like, well, you know, pussy footing around it, you know, didn't work. No, he doesn't care that much. He was like, but let's, I wonder what would happen if I directly.

Even remotely care that much. He opens phone, see, picture him, press. He doesn't give a shit. People are like, Mr. Trump, don't you think that, you know, you know that they're cute on people, they're a little bit, you know, they could be a little bit dangerous to optics. He's like. Yeah, they love me. Who cares?

So during the Ohio rally, many people noticed the unusual sight of the crowd pointing their finger upwards and towards the direction of Trump, while Trump spoke over the where we go one, we go all track. Again, we have to bake something that's like basically, big beautiful man, love you, love you, love you so much. I had, no, I had like reporters hit me up. It's like, what does this mean? Yeah. It's like, I don't fucking know, man. So I've never, that is not a Q&O thing, at least not prior to this. They're all communally saying sex would be more interesting if you just slipped the little finger.

No, I don't think so. I think there was. It looked, you know, when I saw the video, it looked like a religious service. I thought the same thing. It's like, like, that's the most sensible interpretation to me. It's like people, they're feeling the spirit of Trump, you know, and they're just pointing towards the sky and sort of approval of what they were saying. Man, I like. Yeah, exactly.

Happy man. The point. I also, here's my conspiracy. Here's my conspiracy about it. is that, you know, at a religious service, you put your hand up like this, there's no number one finger. And I think maybe some Trump supporters are maybe particularly self-conscious about raising one hand in the air, you know, at a 45-degree angle. No. So the number one, you know, so the number one maybe is kind of like this, this is going to differentiate this from being confused with a Nazi salute.

You have a classic case of LiveBrain where you're processing their beliefs. man love lift happy you're processing it through like they know what they're doing these shifty Nazis are aware that they look like Nazis no they're like shocked that anyone would be like you're fascist

I think most Trump supporters are genuinely like what are you fucking talking about they're not like going well how much of my power level can I show today yeah that's true no they just good man sent by God happy they just think that this guy's gonna make America a thriving and good and prosperous again.

They're thinking doesn't go beyond that. They're not fucking reading fucking Hannah Arendt. Like they're not fucking. Now, an enduring question has been how does Trump himself feel about QAnon and why is he so willing to encourage the movement? You know, we speculate about why that is. But fortunately, a recent Rolling Stone report gave us some insight into how Trump feels about all this by quoting some anonymous sources close to Trump. One person close to Trump was quoted as saying this of Trump's embrace of QAnon. He said that he thinks some of their memes and images are Fennie.

He also sometimes mentions that it's hilarious to make people like you in the media so mad when you see him touch the Q shit. But to be fair, he says that they're some of his biggest fans, which, you know, is his thing. Yes, this is exactly what I was saying. It's is exactly what I was saying. It's so simple. Funny. Also makes the man. It's funny, it makes a media mad, and they like me. Awesome.

It makes me look really cool. Triple threat, triple threat. Makes a man likes me funny. Another source intimately familiar with matter relays that Trump has claimed to some people, as recently as this summer, that he thinks many of these conspiracy theorists and online posters are simply misunderstood

and that the news media enjoys lumping them in with wacky types just because, in Trump's words, they love Trump. Right. It's, I hate to lump in Q and On Believers in with wacky types. No, he's touching on something that's borderline, interesting, and real, that the term conspiracy theory is used unfairly to kind of placate anybody who dares

to kind of question the official often government line or the line of the intelligence agencies. This is a fair argument, but that's not, no. That's not what you're saying. No, it's not, but he's just, it's Trump. So he just takes the thing that's true in another thing. He just moves it over, copy paste, done. and fake news. You're fake news, actually. Not me. I'm not fake news. You're fake news. He's just saying, oh, they love Trump, so they're being very unfair. They're being very nasty towards my people.

But for him, he's like, listen, they're unfairly lumping in the Q&N people who love me in with these whack jobs who think maybe Saudi Arabia had something to do with 9-11, or that the JFK assassination is extremely suss. The weird people, you know? Of course, not the people who believe that JFK's son, JFK Jr, is alive and well and selling hats outside of my... Those are smart people, and they shouldn't be lumped in with these other wackos. One former White House official recalls that during his presidency, Trump would sometimes compliment his cupilled followers for having the right idea when it came to adoring Trump in the MAGA movement. You've got the right idea, loving me. And loathing the deep state and his enemies like Hillary Clinton and James Comey. Okay, well, she's like for like a smidgen of a sentence there, loathing the deep state.

This former official says that they many. mentioned to Trump that QAnon was nuttier than merely being pro MAGA, and that featured tall tales of peddo-controlled Hollywood and the Democratic Party. According to this source... Don't use the only real thing. Well, according to the source, he says, quote, I do not remember his exact words, but Trump's response was along the lines of, There are plenty of bad and sick people in Hollywood and among the liberal elite. So this is, I mean, this is basically what QAnon people do. It's like, well, you know, the Harvey Weinstein thing is true.

He was a Hollywood sicko. Ergo they torture children for their adrenachrome. Yeah, no. Instead, it's just got to suck a dick to get ahead. And they're organizing sex parties with young actors. And a lot of them are, you know, sometimes they're locking women into rooms and torturing them. But not drinking the blood of Christian babies. Right.

This is the thing that, honestly, this is something that Steve Bannon said of Q&A's like, well, it's directionally correct. which I fucking hate because it's like... You hate him because he's right. No, no, because it's like any conspiracy theory if it's like if it premises the idea that, you know, people in positions of power are corrupt is, you know, there has a grain of truth. But, you know, that...

Well, you're on to something, Travis. Develop that further. Well, yes, but because... That is a good point. Because the recognition of corruption at high levels leads people to absurd conclusions that actually lets corrupt people at the high levels off the hook.

I agree. It's a perverted and distorted version of an impulse that starts from a kind of correct, let's say, hunch, like a feeling that you're getting screwed by a shadowy room of assholes. And then you're like, tacking on a bunch of bullshit. Yeah, absolutely, totally. But that's why I have to, I don't know, I'm not going to give it to Benin. But the directionally correct thing, although it's infuriating,

it has an aspect of it that is true. Well, yeah, I hate this bullshit because it's like the lizard person conspiracy theory has a grain of truth. Does it? What? What do you mean? Oh, you really think the elites are so alien to our lives because they live in such privilege that they can't possibly understand what's like to live as a working class.

You don't think they actually feed off our energy? You don't think that? You don't think there's an element of reality there. Okay, maybe not literally aliens. Well, yeah, but they are alien to us. Poetically, you're right, actually. Oh, holy shit, Travis, God damn it. They're cold-blooded.

Yes, they're cold-blooded. They're cruel. They're indifferent to our suffering. Some of them have surgery to fork their tongues. Do they? I don't know. I think that is a thing that some people have. You can make the directionally correct argument about the wildest, stupidest conspiracy theories, and it doesn't help anything.

It doesn't help expose corruption. It doesn't help prevent corruption. But does it hurt that you're directionally incorrect? We love to tease, Travis, but he's probably right. Today we're going to be talking about Clay Clark's Re-Awaken American Tour. And in order to better understand that, we are joined now by religion reporter Sam Kestenbaum. He has written for The New York Times and the Washington Post. His latest piece for Rolling Stone that's headlined, quote,

I think all the Christians get slaughtered inside the MAGA Roadshow Barnstorming America. Sam, thank you so much for joining us today. Really happy to be here. Thank you also for providing a line that I'm going to be cutting out and isolating so that Travis, you know, is declaring the sacrifice of all Christians. That'll be the full episode, just him over and over stating this. Quite a provocative headline, I have to say. Now, before we get into it, so how would you describe this thing?

Because I watched many hours of the videos that they produce that the Reawaken America Tour has put out on Rumble. And it is like, I don't know, a kind of like Christian, prophetic MAGA variety show or something like that. Yeah, I think that's pretty good. I mean, you know, a line in the piece that I, have is like, that I thought about for some time is like, you know, part tent revival, you know, part circus, part campaign rally. I mean, there literally is a gong on stage that Clay will

occasionally hit, you know, evoking a kind of like a MAGA gong show. So, I mean, a variety show fits it. And, you know, the prophetic element is a pretty central thing to it as well that I'm sure we'll get into. But I think that's about right. Variety show fits it. And the guy who organized this. Clay Clark is not someone who was really known in, I guess, political circles or religious circles beforehand. He was like a business guru before he decided that this was his life's mission, right? That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty like a local kind of provincial talk show host on radio in Tulsa. And, you know, known like in Oklahoma for his various business ventures, which were, you know, pretty ambitious for, you know, for like a local business guy. He

once ran for mayor, he ran a pet training company, a barbershop chain, like a, like a, you know, serial entrepreneur in the way that we might sometimes praise those sort of folks. Yeah, he's, he's really fascinating to me because he is the perfect combo of like a QAnon guy and like one of those success grind guys where it's like, get up early, put in the work, you know, everyone can do this. Yeah, it's like, I mean, there are like thousands of these guys who like ran a successful business. In this particular case, his first, like, major successful venture was this DJing sort of like business, right? That's right. Yeah. He was in college when he attended ORU. Oral Roberts University. He was running a DJ company out of the dorm room, just DJing parties, weddings. And

he dropped out of school and continued that business and had, you know, some success locally doing it, really cornering the wedding market. It's a whole spiraling industry of connected vendors. And that's really where Clay learned his craft, so to speak, that he spun into or applied to Maga World of, you know, dealing with various personalities and vendors and merchandise and venues and so forth. But yeah, it was the DJ Company, DJ Connection in Oklahoma where he got his, had his most success early on. They parlayed the success and becoming a like a business consultant and then like you mentioned like a radio business guru teaching small business owners how to scale, basically. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. After the DJ connection business was

a success, he was written about in, like, you know, local like 30 under 30 sort of, just, you know, sort of local press accounts and parlayed that into the consultancy business where he would take, you know, a percentage of the profits off of those who he would consult. And that continues to be a major source of income for him. Yeah. What is it with these guys? It always becomes teaching entrepreneurship to others and making tons of money basically on more like the concept that you're a good businessman

than the actual practice and also there's something funny about him like he strikes me as the kind of guy who in Christian circles is like the edgy friend who like he'll put on like a song with swear words at the Christian dance and everyone's like oh Clay's like that you know

but in like broader circles he just seems like an insane dork but yeah I don't know I have to say there's something a little bit charming about him, like as an annoying guy. Yeah, he's a high-energy kind of funny guy. You know, it seems like he'd be fun to hang around. In a different life, he could have, I could have been like him, probably. I was raised evangelical.

Yeah, I mean, and I mean, you were. Okay. No, if I was. Oh, if you were. The, um, I was about to take a different track of this conversation. But, uh, no, I mean, that's, I mean, that's right. Like, I mean, at O'RU or Roberts University when he was there, he was like the campus bad boy. He had like this funky car with a like sort of painted like a batmobile almost with like hand painted wacky stuff on it.

He got into lots of trouble. He would like argue with professor. So in the sort of context of pretty, I want to say straight lace, but you know, it's sort of Pentecosto ORU scene. He was like he was the sort of cool bad guy and he was a DJ, which is always cool. And he was, he recorded like parody rap songs, one of which eventually got him basically kicked out of ORU. or he's doing like a sort of an impression of Eminem over the real slim, shady beat and making fun of like Christian school life and the lavish lifestyle of the then like school administration, which, you know, some of it like, you know, he kind of has points about sort of how Pentecostal wealth was circulating within the school. But that ultimately got him kicked out because he was making fun of the administration and not exactly swearing, but. Like, they were reversed swear words, so they were sort of implied, which is edgy.

Wow. Yeah, in France, that's like a whole subset of language. They call it, like, you know, backwards, but it would be like, the equivalent in English would be like if we, if suddenly the kids started talking in a way that they were calling quards back. I'm not joking. The French are extremely dorky with language, and I love, I love that he, like, he's not stupid enough to, like, imitate Snoop Dog, like, for his parody rap.

Right. Well, he doesn't listen to. Snoop Dog, that's why. He's like, this guy seems cool for the first time ever in rap for some reason. But I guess to like, you know, hardcore Christians, like Eminem is, you know, basically the devil. Yeah. Well, I mean, to Clay's credit here, he also does an ODB in the same song. Oh, okay, fair, yeah.

Or, yeah, a sort of an ODB reference anyways. And so he has this jacket that says DJ Clay on the back, like he's had jackets made for him. Yeah, he's had personalized jackets made. I mean, he has a reawaken jacket, hockey jersey now. But, yeah, he had a DJ Clay jacket that he would, you know, right around town, you know, from show to show with before the, you know, before the reawaken days. So, you know, always had a sort of a flare for branding, you know, I mean the, I have in front of me here a stack of books that he put out even before, you know, the Reawaken sort of tour stage that is, in which he has put out other books as well. But O is, you know, a entrepreneurial brander and sort of incessantly going from venture to venture. The books, I don't know that he made much off the books, but they provided, like, props for him to do more of the business guru work.

And, you know, they're full of stuff like quotes from Napoleon Hill or Oprah or Bill Gates, who, you know, there's some irony there, which we may get to. but, you know, he's like celebrating all of these other sort of business success stories of America and sort of cleaving himself to that, to that sort of success ethos. Before he realized they were part of the blood drinking cabal, I guess. Yeah, it's got to be, you know, that moment of disenchantment. I mean, you know, he told me that he had to do a lot of redecoration. I imagine. That's amazing.

Yeah, you got to take down all the adrenachrome drinkers. I figured out my house was actually some sort of shrine to pedophiles. I got to change the curtains I had the Oprah curtains But I do like the idea of like people on campus being like See that guy over there? Yeah with the jackets And the Batmobile That guy gets to second base with so many girls on this campus

Well it's also interesting too that like It's not like he chose an industry that you know is like Very difficult If you're a wedding DJ, you know party DJ And a you know fairly sort of like you know Small area You're going to rise to the top pretty quick. He's like, I'm going to do the hardest job in the world, a wedding DJ.

And because I'm successful, I'm going to teach you how to be successful. Yeah, also jacking beats, which is such a, like, QAnon and Christian thing. It was when they do hip-hop, they're just like, I'm going to take this very famous beat. It's mine, though. Done. I'll just do a version of this for our people that doesn't have swears. Even though Clay Clark has obviously a religious background, he went to, you know, religious university, and he, you write. in your article for Rolling Stone

that he believed in miracles. He believed the one of his child was saved from blindness due to a miracle from God. He wasn't really religious in a public way until the pandemic hit. And then he started

doing his own research about what he thought was really going on, got kind of red-pilled and he started devoting more and more time on his radio show to pandemic-related

sort of basically conspiracy theories and other kind of information. Well, I mean, he saw it as an obstacle to his business, right? So he saw that all his kind of, you know, mid-sized to small businesses were kind of under threat by, you know, some of these regulations. And so he went on YouTube to figure out why. Why are they doing this, I guess?

Is that accurate? Yeah, that's right. I mean, you know, that's, you know, his accounting of it, which, you know, I think is helpful in a way because it, I mean, yes, there's a kind of a pilling or a conversion. but it's like very, very openly, you know, about, you know, the financial hit that potentially was going to be head by him and his, you know, if we understand him to be part of his profits come from those he's coaching. So, you know, his clients are also concerned. He's concerned. I mean, he's in Tulsa, which is a different sort of environment than, you know, L.A. or New York. So I think there, you know, there's a different sort of, he's already sort of in kind of libertarian

circles in some way. So people are already like opposed to the government messing with them in anyway, but it was very, very clearly a financial concern for him. And, you know, some of the folks that he was already connected with are people who you guys have probably mentioned on here or who he became connected with pretty quickly in that. So, you know, Sean Foyt was another ORU alum who knew one of Clay's business partners and the Tulsa business crowd was already sort of leaning rightward in some other ways, too. So it wasn't, you know, know, it wasn't like a full-on dramatic conversion in that sense. Like the networks that he was in were moving in that direction already.

And I think that he sort of sensed that. Yeah, Ford is like the kind of, you know, guy with the acoustic guitar version of like him being the DJ, like for this kind of community. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sean Foyt's got the more sort of like camp counselor. Yeah. And I mean, maybe they're both sort of camp counselors in their way. But, but Clay is the sort of, you know, the bad one. Yeah. They were probably dope camp counselors, though, and like, you know, 2006, 2007. Yeah, and they're both kind of like, you know, elder millennial, you know, I think about this, like, you know, Clay has got this sort of like Zuckerberg-esque, you know, it was reading back about the, you know, the early press of him, the way that these types of guys are written about,

like dorm room hustlers dropout, going to succeed still. There's this like sort of millennial mythology around the sort of dropout entrepreneur that Clay then embodied. What it became later is different, but that was his celebrated sort of persona early on. But Clay Clark's real turn to someone who is devoted to this kind of movement and conspiracism apparently came as a consequence of a prophecy from a South African prophet, self-described prophet named Kim Clement. Now, who is this guy? Yeah.

Kim Clement, yeah, might not be able to give it a super good accounting of Kim Clement. So, you know, Kim Clement is one of a number of prophetic figures whose words and media and pronouncements circulated in Pentecostal and charismatic media in the sort of Trump era. And they were seen to provide a kind of a supernatural drumbeat to the Trump presidency. Kim Clement did not live to see Trump's election, but his old clips. where he's saying, you know, sometimes, you know, to the sort of uninitiated, you know, pretty vague statements are kind of revisited for new insights by the faithful or by those who, you know, seek to find insight in them to give, you know, like supernatural legitimacy to Trump. You know, basically they see Trump as a divinely appointed leader. And, you know, in another piece that I wrote for the Times about charisma media, charisma media actually is a sponsor of this tour and they are one of, they're like a flagship Pentecostal publication and they published these sort of Trump prophets incessantly or, you know, quite a lot in the lead up to Trump's win and the months after Trump's win. And Kim Clement is

one of the sort of more prominent of these. His prophecies or his pronouncements were, you know, viewed really as legitimate as persuasive by those in these circles. So Clay, ability to graft himself into this story and connect himself to Kim Clement is not just saying, oh, a prophet said I was prophesied to do this. He's saying the prophet that many of you believe is one of the most legitimate persuasive prophets who said that Trump would win, has also said that I will have a role in this supernatural story unfolding in our lifetimes here in America. So, yeah, Clay Clark produced a documentary called Reawaken in which he talks about discovering this prophecy and believing that it was about him. And this particular prophecy from Kim Clement

comes from a 2013 talk that makes reference to someone named Donald and Mr. Clark. In July of 2020, I got a text message sent to me by Charles Kowlaw. Clay, watch this, call me. And I watch it, and it's Kim Clement. And this prophecy was from 2013. There is a man by the name of Mr. Clark, and there is also another man by the name of Donald. you are both watching me saying, could it be that God's speaking to me? Yes, he is. Somebody, just a few minutes before,

you came on the show. You went out and you took the American flag and you said, I'm proud of my nation. You raised it up, and God said, you have been determined through your prayers to influence this nation. I recalled Aaron Antis, who went to Bible College at Ramah Bible College.

I said, Aaron, I think there's a prophecy about me. Oh, boy. This guy's literally just doing cold reading. He's like, one of you's Donald, the other was someone else, Mr. Clark, who fucking generic names. Yeah. You know, and also he's saying you're listening to me right now. So clearly not, if you found this much later, not about him.

Not about you. Well, you're not listening to him. One thing I want to point out is the slap bass. Yes. So, but there's something, you know, I mean, you know, for all of the import that this guy's that Kim Clements, who is a singer-songwriter as well, so he's a musician, you know, they're like super entertaining and they're pretty funky. And yeah, no, I think you're right. I mean, it has a quality of an 800 number, you know, call me now in that, you know,

someone, a lot of people could derive meaning from these videos and that's sort of their appeal. The fact that it, you know, spawned this industry of mega profits and people like Clay and the tour is, you know, surprising, I suppose. But, you know, I think a lot of people could be watching these and getting insights from them that are not leading them to start a tour and tour the nation with Mike Flynn and Lundell and so forth. Yeah, he's just being like, oh, Donald Duck, what's the Superman guy's name? Clark, Clark, Kent.

Donald Duck, Clark Kent, going to save the world. We've got an Elmer. I can sense an Elmer is watching us. Mr. Fudd, if you're listening. Kim Clement is not living anymore. but his daughter is on the tour as well. Oh, wow. And she, they're actually in, I think they're in Thousand Oaks, so not far from here.

And they have a, you know, there's a sort of a small industry still of sort of spreading and speaking about Kim Clement, who is really highly regarded. So, you know, so Clay really, you know, adeptly seized this, this narrative, this story and, you know, put himself in it and then even brought the daughter of this prophet on the tour, which you got to think if you are sort of a consumer of this prophetic media, that's a, you know, that's pretty exciting that you can go see the daughter of the prophet who was prophesying about this guy and the tour's coming to town and, you know, let's go. What happened to children rebelling against what their parents did? What happened to that? Yeah, what happened to that? You've never been to a rave and met, like, Christian kids who were like, dude, this is fucking changed my life, man. I'm

like, son of a pastor. Yeah, but why can't, like, Kim Clement's daughter be like, oh, yeah, my dad was, like, kind of a fraud. And, like, yeah, he, he sort of, like, tricked a lot of people. And, like, I'm, you know, I'm actually, uh, getting, you know, my, uh, my master's degree. Or, or Michael Flynn, Jr. They are really charismatic in the sense, like, the broader sense. Like, these are people who can convince their kids. They win over their family. Whereas, like, my dad wasn't maybe as adept at public speaking and convincing other human beings. It wasn't his full-time job. So he, you know, he was saying stuff. And I was like, yeah, whatever, I'm going to do the exact opposite. Okay, fair enough. Yeah, I mean, don't you think most people, or not, I don't

know, most people, but many folks go into the same line of work. I know if we take the sort of like belief aspect of it out or the sort of like extreme belief, if, you know, if we do think these things are extreme beliefs, like it is like a sort of a craft that, you know, she's probably seen growing up. And she's, I mean, she's not making prophetic claims herself. She's sort of carrying on the lineage of Kim of her father. The living remnant. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. There was a part in your article where you mentioned him like screening a call from a woman who makes like pretty wild prophetic claims. Does this scene ever get like a little saturated with people claiming to be prophets? Absolutely. Yeah. And Clay is, you know, he's like he's pretty open about.

that you know I'm there behind the scenes ahead of the opening of the of the tour and this is in Virginia Beach and somebody keeps calling his phone and he's not picking up and he says he's sort of like oh this person again he finally picks up and puts her on speakerphone and it's this woman saying that she's actually actually was from a kim clement prophecy she was saying oh i you know kim clement prophesied about me and i'm i'm like esther and you know i need to be on your stage like tomorrow and can you fly me there and he's kind of like no you can come and you know tickets are this price and we'd love to have you but I you know I can't I don't know you but but it's a fine I mean he's polite he's doing it in full Oklahoma Tulsa charm you

appreciate you appreciate you so much I hope you can come here he's not you know cruel to this woman but he's running a show and if he's going to have profits on the stage he's going to have ones that that people know Julie Green who is a Doug Mastriano's sort of go-to prophet is on the tour someone named Amanda Grace a lot there are a lot of other prophets who are better known. So, yeah, you know, it's mercenary in that sense that, you know, that clay is not going to go out in a limb and put anyone who comes up and says, hey, my prophet, it's got to be somebody who, with a following with the fandom that are already doing well in other, you know, media networks. Right. This is show business. You know, you can't just call somebody up who's, who's, you know, has done the grind and made it, you know, and has put the tour together and say, hey, like, I, like my prophecy is, I. I just know that when Clay picks up the phone, my prophecy is so good that he's going to make me one of the headliner speakers and, you know, it just doesn't work like that.

You have to be functionally delusional, transactional. You can't just be absolutely delusional. So Clay Clark feels that he's been prophesized into starting this tour and that starts as Clay Clark's Health and Freedom Conference, the first of which was held in April of 2021. at Rima Bible College in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. And this was a pricey event from the start, apparently. The VIP tickets and the front row tickets for $500 each. Wow. And the general admission was $250. And they also had apparently pay as you can discounts.

But this was, I mean, yes, that's a lot, $250 for, even for like an old day show. Yeah, I missed the last Weezer tour that came through Los Angeles because the tick were 250 and that's like my favorite band you know and I didn't even want to pay that talk about wezer just I'm just saying that's a lot that's a lot to ask of people well you know I'm I think wezer yeah yeah no no please go on let's let's let's talk about that no well no I was just I was gonna wonder you know if wezer might go on the show but no wezer wouldn't but blink 182 or one of these guys could I mean there are there are like sort of would be mainstream uh comedians and other figures who have joined the tour, but Weezer, as far as I know, is not joining the tour

yet. But there's just a point of clarity on the pay as you can. I mean, you know, a lot of people are paying like $50 to $60 to go on this. So there's, you know, just to let you know, if, you know, next time it comes through Anaheim, you don't have to pay $250 to go. And Clay makes a big show of this as well, you know, this is a selling point that he will talk about on the various promos is that, you know, I don't want to keep anybody out of here. If anyone wants to, you know, I don't want money to be an issue. If you want to pay $8 to come, you can, you know, we'll let you in the door. So the VIP, there's no budge. But in terms of, you know, if there's a kind of a, you know, a gimmick or a sort of a, you know, a appealing sort

of twist there where anyone can really get in. And that's always been the case. And I don't think that people are paying $250 in general admission to go. Okay. There's a lot, I mean, there's a lot of other merchandising options once you get there. Like a free-to-play game They'll let you in for free But then if you want any of the If you want any of the really good skins You gotta

You can pay $250 if you're that much of a mark You know, it's like if you have no bartering skills Right But you know It's basically like you know Would you pay $250 kind of thing Like just checking if you're that much of a mark And then

Eight bucks is fine too Sort of a challenge to like Yeah yeah If you know the game then Yes So I want to talk about the some of the actual content of the speakers in these events because I watched the recent event in Idaho, which happened over two days. And it was literally an all-day event. Like the first

day, at least the recording, was like 10 hours of speakers. And the second day was another 10 hours of more speakers. And I would describe it as an unending barrage of like rage and conspiracy theories. Just people who are furious and want the audience to be furious and also I'd say nonsense about what the cabal is planning. So, I mean, there's no really possible way to cover what all the speakers are talking about. But I'm going to give you a small sample of what an attendee of the reawakent tour might experience. You may learn from Clay Clark himself that the NIH started experimenting with how to block the God gene in 2008. Now, this is not true, but this is what he said. So in 2008, the CDC begins, the NIH begins doing, the NIH begins doing research on how to block out the God gene.

So if you click that link right there, why is it troubling, Aaron, that the NIH is trying to do research to block out your ability to think? Oh, well, probably because if you're going to block out the God gene, you don't want God influencing anything that happens in a person's life or any of their thoughts. The guy is wearing a fucking American flag, like, jacket. Yeah, he's like the, um... Talking about the fucking God Gene. The God Gene. They're blocking the God Gene. So, I mean, I checked on what the hell he was talking about there.

I went to the website that they're referencing, because this is actually, this whole segment was basically him to go to this website and they walk you through basically the history of the 50 year plan of the cabal to do the great reset in their beliefs. So what they're talking about is a 2008 paper called experimenting with spirituality, analyzing the God. gene in a non-major's laboratory course has nothing to do with blocking the God gene. It was actually an education paper that references the book, The God Gene, how faith is hardwired into our genes. So in that book, the author Dean Hammer argues that a variation in the V-MAT-2 gene plays a role in one's openness to spiritual experiences. And the paper in question simply examines how students in one class responded to learning about concepts in the book. So I don't know how they got

the NIH is trying to figure out how to block the God gene from that. But is this a theme, you know, in the, I guess, in the tour that, like, the powers that be, the government is trying to destroy spirituality? Yeah, I mean, yes, it is. You know, the banner image of the tour now is this sort of like Marvel or street fighter looking face off between the, you know, the bad guys and the good guys. The good guys are the line for the tour. The bad guys are sort of Soros, Zuckerberg, Gates. World Economic Foundation stuff.

Charles Schwab. Yeah. It was called out, was it the Great Awakening versus the Great Reset, right? That's right, yeah. And are like, you know, below it in all the boxes, or is it like the speakers like you can choose your fighter, you know? I mean, it has that look.

I mean, you know, I don't know if Clay has plans for sort of interactive, you know, iPhone game yet, yet. But that would be pretty good. Video game, Klaus Schlob versus Clay Kark, fight. I mean, and he made like a theatrical invite to, you know, to the bad guys to, you know, to appear on this tour. Like, I'm saving a seat for you, you know, Cloud Schwab. If you want to come, this is not going to happen. But, you know, he's the idea that you can see, you know, the heroes and the villains duke it out is sort of what's suggested by this, by the image. And yeah, I mean, it's like a, you know, these are villains who are, it's a full on onslaught of everything that, you know, you, the viewer, hold holy in your life. And, you know, that, that clip of Clay providing the links, you know, I think is, that is his approach is, you know, it is the sort of do your own research, you know, ethos and that he has done his research and he's going to provide you the resources to do your own.

You know, I have no idea if people go to those links. I don't know, but it's sort of a barrage of, you know, here's the information. I'm not making claims that, you know, you can't substantiate yourself. And it's almost, and this is sort of an uncomfortable way to put it, but it's almost like, you almost like journalistic in that sense. You know, it's like it's about, you know, sorting through links and like, you know, shoving them down the throat or into the, into the, into the, into the viewer's lap. And he is also on the stage, it's, you know, it's like almost like pedagogical in

that he's, you know, telling you take out your pens and paper, um, write down the links, write down the name, write down the, you know, the PayPal, write down, you know, get this information into your notebook, into your, uh, into your life and, uh, and, you know, don't let it pass you by. So it's, it's, uh, it's almost like, you know, some sort of class that you're in or like a Bible study, really. Um, and that, you know, the marathon quality of these events, too, is like, you know, speakers are up there like 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and that's just about it and it's it's nonstop there's no break yeah yeah like i said it's just unending barrage um like you mentioned there's also a big prophetic element uh there's one woman

who is called a prophet named julia green and um she delivers a message that there is a prophecy that trump will be restored as president by the end of the year how many of you guys are excited right now give a big shout who how many of you guys are you guys believe by the end of this year something big is about to happen yeah how about that our rifle president gets his seat back and oh Biden is gonna go bye-bye and I'm not just saying that really I really am not I want to read off a couple of prophecies I'm gonna give you guys today of something that has already been fulfilled and it should excite anybody to

realize that prophecy is not just people giving out words. They're actually giving out God's words and what God is saying today. How many believe that God actually gives us the news before the news? And that God knows exactly what's going to happen before

it happens, right? She is on some pretty heavy medication there, slurring her words. Or she's just got the spirit so much. She's not of this world. She's got the heat. the vapors or whatever they used to say she is though in fact just saying things and these are just words news news before the news i like um yeah you know because i think that is like and i think

that's that does encapsulate the you know the appeal of these people who follow this sort of stuff so closely is that it's it's current events i mean it is like having a special insight into what's to come um and you know there's an aspect of it which is like also like speaking speaking into existence the things that they wish to come. It's sort of, you know, there's a kind of a wishful thinking element of it as well. And, you know, in Julie Green, I mentioned before, but she, you know, she's connected to Doug Mostriano. And so she is sort of coming, you know, coming into her own or, you know, has a pretty large following now. And I met people at the event who told me they came specifically to, you know, excited to see her speak. Yeah, she looks like she would be kicked out because her

bachelorette party's being too loud at a comedy show. Isn't like, you know, news before the news? I feel like that's referencing some kind of, like, biblical stuff, like the good news and all that stuff. Is there? Like, are they using these words because they know it is hitting a emotional chord with the audience who's already very familiar with this style of language? Yeah, probably. But, yeah, I mean, gospel, right? Gospel is the good news. And, you know, one of the ironies of this tour, and I think of probably a lot of these figures that you guys also look at is there's, you know, this, like, deep suspicion attack.

a sale against the media and the use of media, what the lies the media is telling you, at the same time, this is like a really slick multimedia operation with people with really large fandoms, more followers than I have, more followers than, you know, I don't know, but, you know, than a lot of you'll have. And, you know, so they are sort of marshalling their social media followings and, you know, producing podcasts and rooms that maybe look like this on these topics at the same time as, you know, inviting, you know, paranoia, kind of like a joyful paranoia almost about what the media, the lies the media is telling you. And Julie Green, I actually don't know if she's probably

on Rumble. I don't follow her too closely, but she's in these networks. And like I mentioned, this is like a variety show. They're like, you're they're preachers and there are political conspiracy theories, but there's also music and there's also some comedy. And in fact, during the show I watched, you could see this comedy stylings of Jim Brewer. Oh, he has been on Fox, too. He's become so unfunny. He looks in pain every time he appears anywhere. He was very, I mean, he did his bit, but he seemed very unhappy.

So during his set, he complains about getting criticized for not wanting to play shows at venues that require vaccinations. And for those who don't remember, he was the high guy in half-baked. Well, you have to clear. He was the most high guy. the, come on, man, you know, your typical, your stereotypical tie-dye wearing white stoner guy, and was beloved. I mean, in that era, people love Jim Brewer, and yeah, to watch his turn to complete, to this, to appearing on the, you know, reawaken, reawaken America tour is, I mean, I guess stranger things have happened, but it's proof that we won't say it was. Proof that no one is safe. Yeah, no one is safe from falling into these ideologies.

But when it really started getting interesting was, I said, listen, I'm not going to do any venues that force vaccinations. Yeah. And of course, of course, all the media. Send the heathens. and disgrace him. Because that's what they do. What kind of man would care about his following?

He wants them all to die. Which was the great trick that they pulled. You don't want your grandmother to die, do you? Don't go visit them on their deathbed. Trust the silence. trust the science this is disturbing because he's doing bill hicks and the jokes that bill hicks does in this style

are literally about like gop politicians blowing satan but he's like transformed it it's like oh the media is being you know evil you know that i mean obviously it's it sucks but in in that room it killed because it hit a lot of themes that the crowd was receptive to anti-media uh anti-vaccin and also skeptical of mainstream science. And also, you know, reenacting the voice of the media as Satan, which many probably believe. But all these acts are just like, this is how liberals are.

It's like, Jesus Christ. He pretty much just does, I mean, when I saw him speak, it means pretty much just does those sort of voices. Like either like animals or, it's like it's a, it's a lot. And, you know, and actually I, I, I remember what I wrote down as he was talking as I was taking notes. And I think I wrote something like, you know, for my money, Clay is funnier than this comedian. He is. He's actually more charming, too, yeah. He doesn't seem like he's in constant pain either, whereas Brewer.

I mean, it's kind of like there's no, it's all sort of one note. There isn't, there's like very little dynamics in the sort of as a comedy act. I mean, that would be a fun, you know, I'd like to read this sort of. of like comedy critic take on these mega comedians. I mean, J.P. Sears has also been on this, and I know you guys have recently covered him at length, but there's something, there's something that like there isn't much sort of dynamic to the comedy act. And I think, you know, Clay sort of is like many characters at once on stage. I mean, he has to sort of keep the show moving. But I think when he does sort of

jokes and voices even, he's actually a little more funny than the actual comedians that he has on the show. Yeah, because he does seem to be kind of enjoying himself. I think there's self-aware, too, about Clay, which is maybe a little uncomfortable to say, but, you know, there's something, there's, there's a bit of a wink with Clay from time to time. Yeah. Well, and with somebody like Jim Brewer, you know, the question is, is, were these always his beliefs and he kind of had to mask it, you know, to get as far as he did in sort of mainstream Hollywood? Or, you know, was he, you know, happy to be, you know, the sort of liberal sweetheart after half-baked? And then as work dried up and he found that the, you know, that he pivoted to this.

angle does that actually hurt him inside and and you know with j p sears i think we saw you know i think it's kind of clear that he was always that way you know to some extent i think what what's consistent is that there's like seething anger underneath the surface whereas with clay i don't know if there's that much actual anger i think he plays it up a little bit yeah but j p seers and this guy seemed to be an actual pain and they seem to actually loathe the people around them yeah uh so i I don't know. Because, yeah, I get that. If you are, like, you know, one of the top sort of, like, you know, everybody loved half-baked and the weed and, you know, you're kind of this hero, you know, your hero for being in such as popular stoner movie.

And then to have that audience turn on you feels bad, you know, it feels bad. America's sweetheart, the hero, the guy who was like, yeah, me, and like half-baked. Look, I was like in college when that movie came out. Yeah, I was a college stoner when that movie came out. A hero. Sure. They all were. I mean, people walked around quoting half-baked for like, basically until Chappelle's show came out.

And then they were quoting that for the rest of college. Well, at very least, a countercultural figure. Yes. Okay. That's a smart way to say it. And that's, hey, man, I just saved this woman from underneath the car, man. I'm hearing. And, I mean, it's not like a particular novel observation now, but like the way the, I mean, the sort of aesthetics of the counterculture, you know, sort of.

flow through these these maga or cue circles or you know before that everyone was talking about the alt right you know the sort of counterculture quality too i mean the co-founder of vice you know i mean you know i mean you know there's there's a way that the things that we thought were edgy were we're our edgy continue to be edgy but edgy in a different way or these figures who involved in edginess yeah the edge you know they follow a different edge i think they they do they do they kind of smuggle in some counterculture into the right and the right feels like yeah see we've got our guys, too, you know, even though, like, they're often just like husks of their former selves. But it's still, it's the feeling of like, yeah, we're going against the grain

instead of trying to enforce, you know, a centuries long, like a vision of like the family or what it means to be a good person and faithful. There's also, you know, some Qadon mixed in with the speakers. In fact, right after Jim Brewer spoke at the show that I watched, there was a call in from the X-22 report, at least the anonymous. this individual who does the X-22 report show, which is a QAnon promoter. And for his segment, he said that all of the legal activity surrounding Trump right now is actually good because it's bait that's luring the deep state. Everything that the deep state is doing right now, everything that they're trying to do, where they started with a pandemic, they went after Trump with Russia, Russia, Russia, and impeachment hoax number one, impeachment hoax number two. now they're trying to go after him with Mar-Largo.

They confiscated Mike Lindell's phone, Dr. Frank's phone, and they're continually going after him. Actually, it's not really him, it's really us. This is all, they're desperate, they're panicking, they're working out of fear. This is not a group that is in control. A group that is in control doesn't go after people. They sit back because they're in control.

If you notice, Trump is the one sitting back. Trump is the one that is relaxed. Trump, he's actually the bait. He is actually bringing these people to where he wants them to go. He wants them to walk down this path. Yeah, classically, when people take control, like a junta or a despot, they're just like sitting back, man, just resting on their laurels. They're not like out there actively chasing and executing their enemies to make sure

to solidify power. They're just fucking chilling, dude, and doesn't seem to be chilling. Yeah, this brings me to the question of. I guess Trump's role as a really like a religious figure because I don't know if you recently saw the footage of the rally in Ohio in which while Trump was giving a speech over a, over a song that happened to be called Where We Go One We Go All. The crowd was raising their finger up towards the heavens and towards Trump as if they were, you know, at a, you know, at a Pentecostal, you know, church or something. So, I mean, why, I mean, I mean, I, this. It's a difficult question, but like, why exactly, or was Trump's role as something more than just a political figure, someone who is destined to make America great, someone who is connected to some sort of grand spiritual battle? Yeah. Yeah, that is a big question. You know, I'll say that, you know, there is the role that these sort of freelance prophets play in that in, you know, you know, making him a sort of sanctified character in an end times prophecy or end times, end times events unfolding. But then, you know, there's also, I think, just like an aesthetic

quality that I think is worth pointing to. That is, you know, Trump, an early advocate for Trump is Paula White, who's a televangelist, who he sort of knew from Florida, or sorry, from just watched from watching her on television. And, you know, she, among others, became his sort of inner circle. of largely Pentecostal advisors who, you know, who I think, I think there's a sort of a consonance or a familiarity with even just sort of a televangelist style and Trump's own sort of bombast and, you know, sort of prosperity gospel. So, you know, I just want to appoint, you just want to like draw out the like aesthetic qualities, I think, of what Trump has tapped into and the ways that these tour events, regardless of like the beliefs of the people

there's like a style that Trump tapped into early on. I mean, and the Trump brothers are on this tour as well, Eric and Don Jr. And Trump has not appeared on the tour, but he calls in. Or Eric makes a call on his phone and Trump's voice speaks from the phone. I don't know if that's recording. Yeah. I don't know if Trump actually is, you know, there is Trump's voice does come through, but I don't know if he's waiting on the other line to, you know, to pick up each time that Eric calls. But I, but I saw this, this, this act happen on the stage, and it's become a sort of a regular thing now. So, you know, so seeing Trump, I mean, but then again, you know, I'd also just say that, like, campaign rallies, I think are generally pretty, you know, quote-unquote

religious, even without the hands raised. There's a sort of a worshipful quality regardless of who the candidate is. I mean, so are, you know, so are we your concerts too. Correct. Now, like you mentioned, it's not just fringe figures to a part of the story, like, you know, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are part of this. Also, you could see Roger Stone. In fact, I was able to see Roger Stone, who is really one of the most depraved and soulless man to ever walk the earth. Just if the devil exists, then he is friends with Roger Stone. But in this segment that I watched, he professes that he discovered Jesus thanks to the Muller. investigation. Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you as living proof that Jesus Christ can do

anything. I did not always understand or believe this in my younger days when I was a hard-boiled political operative. Yes, I lived the life of a libertine. I was a willful sinner. But then in the crucible when I was framed by Robert Mueller. I was charged with lying under oath to Congress about Russian collusion, which never actually took place, which never actually happened, which was really about pressuring me to testify falsely against my friend Donald Trump, and I refused. is at that time that I turned to the Lord and I was redeemed in the blood

of the cross and of Jesus Christ. It is hard to prophesy through like anphetamine lockjaw. Wow. But like listen to what he's saying. He's like, he's like basically like, yeah, when I was under federal investigation and I, yeah, I had the, you know,

the possibility of my freedom being taken away, I turned to Jesus, you know? It's like, Yes, when I was younger, I used to fuck and suck. Folks, it's true. But they love that, right? They love the story of a sinner who is now saved. Absolutely.

Yeah, and that's what we heard a lot of at the Sean Foyt thing. You know, it's like, I used to be a homosexual. I used to do these things and have these horrible orgies. Yeah. Roger Stone does, not in that clip, but in other ones, but he does have a really beautiful white suit that he wears. So I just want to give some credit to the sartorial choices. Well, it's mad of the cloth.

When the cocaine comes out of your nose and it's like it's not going to show up on the lighter suit. Of course, Michael Flynn is a regular feature of the tour. In recent livestream promoting the tour, Flynn claimed that the globalists are plotting to subvert God's design of ourselves by replacing parts of us with robotics. They are trying to change the very essence of our DNA. And there are people working on this. That's one of them. You've all known or Harari, which is just not going to work.

So what do they do? They're going to basically put components of robotics into us. And that's one of the other issues that they are looking at. So, you know, everything from you see the robotic arms, which can help somebody or robotic legs, which can help somebody who lost their legs or somebody who lost their movement of their arm or an arm

to be able to do things and to live like a normal life. But those are, that's different than what these guys. are trying to do. They're actually trying to change inside the internals of something that is unchangeable, unmovable, immovable, because they're designed by someone other than them, and thank God that God designed us the way we are. So what do you see, I guess, Flynn's role in this, because we've been talking about Flynn on the show for many years, and he likes to ride up his digital soldiers. He used to be part of the QAnon tour that was organized by the man formerly known

as Qaeda on John, but he apparently dumped that and upgraded to the Clay Clark tour. So how is he, I guess, how is he received by the audience? I mean, he's the, here's the, the headliner of this. He came aboard pretty early on and connected to Clay at one of these sort of early lockdown, sort of churchy gatherings that Clay was holding at his office. And as Clay tells it, Flynn heard him on the Anne van der Steal podcast and, you know, liked what he heard. At that point, Clay was doing sort of basic anti-lockdown, anti-mask promotion of two books that he had, or a book that he had out then, and connected with him. And Clay approached Flynn and they discussed, you know, what would be this tour. This is, you know, 2021 post-January 6. And so he came on as a headliner.

And, you know, much of the coverage of these tours that I was seeing focused on Flynn, you know, I think not, I think rightly, I mean, he is a, he's a big name at these events and a draw, a serious draw. He comes out not as often as Clay, but he's on stage quite a bit. He has a kind of a rambling speaker's quality. It's sometimes sort of hard to follow where he's going. You know, that is, he's not like the showrunner and the way that Clay is really the master of ceremonies, but he is, he is, you know, as they call America's General. And he's evoked in, you know, frequently by Clay on stage in this sort of like Trinity of like a sort of a holy Trinity of God, Donald Trump, and Mike Flynn, as the sort of figures around which this tour sort of circles. And, you know, he is the biggest, you know, MAGA name they have. I mean, aside from the Trump kids, but the Trump kids don't really talk about, they're not as far out there as Flynn. is with this stuff. So he's a, I mean, he's a major figure in the reawaken tours. And, you know, like all people has his booth outside where he's selling merch. He does, you know, takes fan photos out, you know, in the, in the lobby with everybody. And he walks with bodyguards around the

tour. He was there backstage when I was there, sort of watching approvingly as Clay is putting the sort of final tweaks on all of the backstage stuff. So he's, you know, in the mix and not just as a sort of a star, but really behind the stage on things as well. He's a producer as well. He's the star power, but he's been in the game long enough that he wants his producer credit. So, you know, he's backstage. He's, you know, wants to be, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that looks great.

That looks great, Clay. Wild. Wild. And then he gets up there and talks about, like, yeah, the vaccine trying to alter your DNA, just the lowest of the low of, you know, conspiracy theories. This is what happens when you just kind of get old in the Protestant world. ethic will not stop like you just have to stay fucking busy and so you end up just going on endless tours I wasn't surprised at learning from your piece that the tour grosses a lot of money I

mean they're able to fill these massive mega churches and you say that they gross about 300 grand per show which is a decent but it's not a money maker which is kind of surprising because they have to pay all the you know the venue and all the people who speak and but I guess The question is that this started as, I guess, a protest against, you know, COVID measures. Now, but he's continuing to do it, even though it's losing money. So what's the purpose now? Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm not sure what to make of the money claims. And I, you know, I look at them with some suspicion in terms of what Clay says about this tour losing money.

On the other hand, if indeed that money goes immediately. back to paying speakers, reimbursing travel, paying these huge megachurches to rent them out, security. You know, if indeed that is all true and there is some money that is lost, it's possible that Clay could be, there are other business ventures that he's been involved in that where he might take some losses to begin sort of with the hope for a payoff later on that is getting new clients, parlaying this into something else. That is, you know, he might be taking a risk on this himself.

You know, on the speaker's end, you know, they're probably not losing money doing this. You know, I don't have numbers for how much speakers are paid. And I think it varies from big name to big name. That is like, if this, you know, this aspiring Esther were to get her way there, she might get some time on stage, but she's not going to get paid much. But a Julie Green. Yeah. And she might be, you know, at least put up in a nice hotel or flown there. And, you know, Clay wouldn't go into great detail about how much people.

are paid. And, you know, and he makes these claims about it being, you know, at a loss for himself and that he would much rather go back to Oklahoma and, you know, sit by his coy pond and, you know, be with his family. But, you know, this is also like the biggest thing that he's been involved in, regardless of if he's losing money, this is like the most sort of national attention that he's ever had. So, yeah, I mean, you know, I think that more might come out about that. And, you know, and I look to sort of follow that as more finances become sort of clearer. But it's, it's quite mercurial now. And he also founded a church at his business compound in Oklahoma, which, you know, money might also flow differently through that. So there's, you know, there's a lot of question

marks around the money aspect. And, you know, as soon as I know more, I will report that out. So you actually happen to speak with some of Clay Clark's former business associates. So what do they make of his, I guess, pivot to, I guess, one of the biggest conspiracy peddlers in the country right now? Yeah, I spoke with the current owner of DJ Connection, who was a collaborator with Clay for a number of years early and early on when he was getting the DJ company going. And, yeah, and Jason spoke to me. And, you know, I think what, you know, Jason's observations to me were more like, that looks like a lot of work and a big mess.

And I'm glad I have nothing to do with it. You know, he might share, like, politically some sensibility that is, you know, I don't know how he voted. But, you know, he sort of expressed to me that he was conservative. He was a religious man or, you know, a churchgoer. But to him, the challenge of it all was, you know, how do you stay on top of who is in the cabal who's not? Are you Illuminati for a time, you know, people turned on Clay, said he was an Illuminati. And there's just all these sort of personalities or divas involved in the scene that Clay must always be managing. So, you know, I liked what Jason told me was just like it seems like a mess.

You know, his, like, critique or comment was more like, this, like, seems like, not something I want to be involved in kind of haphazardly organized and, like, not a kind of a business venture that I want to undertake, which, you know, regardless of, you know, we can speculate about how much money it's making or not, you know, there is something sort of haphazard about it. It's part of it's sort of a charm, too. It's a little freewheeling, a little like it could almost come off the rails at any moment. and Jason's sort of observing this and saying that's not something I want to be involved in. I do think, you know, he, some of the further out, you know, conspiracy stuff is off, you know, is offputting to not Jason, but also, you know, the church that Clay was actually involved in for a number of years where his parents went, his mother goes to, you know, abided by pandemic restrictions. So there's a kind of a further irony where Clay is crusading against what the pandemic is doing to or, you know, what pandemic restrictions are doing to the church, calling them part of this, you know, evil plan against religion. And at the same time, the church that he has attended for a number of years is dutifully, quietly following those restrictions, you know, pretty peacefully. So any other takeaways from your experience, I guess, watching this spectacle and sort of following its origins?

Well, I'd be curious, you guys, as Q people, so to speak, you know, where you see, that is, Q is not for, you know, QAnon stuff is not foregrounded here. You know, you have to sort of look. There are a couple speakers. There's merch. When I went to the first one of these, I went to two of these, I went to one in Anaheim last summer when it was, you know, California. And there was a little more QAnon merch there than what I've seen more recently. So I wonder, you know, as sort of observers of this sort of, you know, content industry, like what, you know, what role Reawaken plays in that? I mean, yeah, I mean, obviously, I mean, what was really remarkable,

I guess, about Q&ON is that it did involve, like, elements of prophecy. There was this belief that, like, nothing can stop where this coming. There is a inevitable result and there are elements that know it. And of course, there is also this super religious element where they believe that they were, you know, on God's side. And these people deep inside the Trump administration were like doing God's work. And there's like, you know, they talk about the Great Awakening. And this is why, you know, I obviously, like I could recognize, you know, a lot of the QAnon style themes in this, in this, you know, in the Great Awakening or in the reawakening tour because it's just, you know, religious, political prophecy, worship. of Trump and, you know, the belief that, you know, they are, you know, that General Flynn is unjustly persecuted, but he's going to lead America to a greater cause. You know, it's like it's all the broad QAnon stuff without the Q&N sort of labeling. I mean, that's sort of my perception of it. Yeah, and I think QAnon has always sat at the intersection of religion and politics and introduce conspiracy theories into the lot so that you can really galvanize people.

You know, if you thought you were pissed about, you know, abortion, wait until you hear about the adrenachrome. I mean, I think, you know, it's just like harder drugs for people that they want to get involved. And I think during the Trump era, it was trust Trump, keep aligning under Trump, keep supporting Trump. And now it's, you know, actually get politically active so that next time, you know, he either loses or wins, like, we're ready to make sure that that's, you know, secured for us and so yeah I definitely I think it's just at this point Q has become both like an umbrella and also just like a signpost you know that's just like you know a part of things another brand on like the kind of sponsored by you know yeah um but it's just it's it's it's kind of omnipresent and woven

in too to all the speaking points without needing to reference you know 17 or Q and on specifically and I also think that it contributing to that the Q not really posting anymore I know we had like the four posts, you know, a couple months, months ago. But other than that, it doesn't seem like Q is back in any kind of significant way that it was, you know, obviously from, you know, end of 2017 through December of 2020. So there's nothing to really point at. There are not drops to be decoded. There is not, all that's left is the sentiment and, and the sort of general ideas that, you know, that we're already connecting with an evangelical. audience and so yeah there's really no point to you know it's like hey yeah i'm a fan you know i'm a fan

and i got the shirt or i got the hat or the pin or whatever but like this this is what's happening now you know there this is this is what you're you're paying to go and see these people speak and say the things that you learned about maybe from qanon but cue itself is you know it's in the ground water yeah yeah it's it's it's in the taps right yeah i mean i mean i Now that I'm sort of like thinking aloud here, but hearing what you're saying, it makes me think like, you know, this is like, you know, like fish to the grateful dead or something. There's like, you know, you see the merch in the, you know, I'm more lucky to see a where we go one where we go all shirt in the crowd. But, you know, who's playing? It sort of sounds like it. But it's a different, it's a different act. I mean, you know, Clay's career didn't, you know, take off till in this world, you know, until 2020, 2021. And, you know, some of those tunes are, you know, the band isn't broken up. But it's, you know, it's a, it's a little dead. different. Well, and you also have, one thing that I forgot is you actually have Michael Flynn on record twice, saying that, you know, he believes that QAnon is a leftist sciop, you know, that it's a CIA thing. And so their own guy, you know, is on record, you know, when he doesn't know that he's being recorded, actually condemning it. Well, I think he does know he's being recorded. But also, I think that people can, they can always square that away by just being like, disinformation is necessary. Throwing people off to say that. I mean, he recently commented on Western Journal about QNon.

He was saying stuff like, oh, well, you know, it's like there's, you thought it was a sci-op. But he only objected to it because he didn't like the idea of trust the plan. Because the idea is like, no, no, we are the plan. We need to take action. He thought that was, that whole trust-the-plan thing was too pacifying. Yeah, he wants to transition into like a way more tangible thing and be like, stop sitting behind your computers. Like, your digital soldiers, but now it's time to be real soldiers. Local action makes national.

impact. And Lynn Wood was once on this tour and they, and Clay and Lynn did like a sort of fireside chat podcast for a little bit before Lynn left as one of the sort of shakeups of the sort of defectors or the sort of infighting within the crew. So, you know, a lot of the characters are still, you know, the old members of the band are still kicking around. But the show has, you know, changed a little bit. They got to bring in like a hot new drummer, you know, younger guy who can sort of keep in time, you know. And also it's like, oh, they can attack QAnon, but they They can't attack us talking about God. So they're kind of folding back and retreating on that, like, rhetorical front

while they also get way more involved in actual politics and, you know, putting boots on the ground. Yeah. Sam, thank you so much for coming in the studio, talk to us today. Where can people find more of your work? They can follow me on social media at S. Kestenbaum. It's my name, my last name, and my website, Sam Kastenbaum.com. All right. Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you. Thanks. Thanks so much for listening to another episode of QAnon Anonymous. We appreciate you supporting us on Patreon. That's patreon.com slash QAnonanonanonymous. And if you don't already, you will get a second episode for every main episode that we put out and access to all of our ongoing series. You can also go to tour.cunonanonymous.com and check out our dates ranging through October and November. We're probably coming to a city near you. And if we're not, please don't write in. Please, we know it. We know you want us to come to the city, and your city's the best, and it has the best cola, the best pizza, the best hamburgers. And we love you. Listener, until next week, may the Deep Dish bless you and keep you.

It's not a conspiracy. It's fact. And now, today's AutoCube. Um, excuse me, um, could you, uh, tuck in that shirt, please? I'm what you call a resident advisor. And it's my duty to make sure that you take off that hat and you wear together up those earrings and you just be good. No social dancing, okay? I got to hold you accountable, all right? Call me Slim Shady, but tell me it's not weird that all the Dines knew my name by the second day I got here.

Told him to take my earring out, of course, to shave my face. Cut your hair, wear it time, act like you love this place. A prison, home to look like heaven. The only thing worse than four years here would be seven. Deans try to change my songs, so people want a group. Play this acoustic guitar, too. And hand to me the rules. I'm not your average white kids, so quit laughing.

Watch it he likes to dance No social dancing Oh are you out Worry about oh are you in Act a gay We're rock the house shacks The YMCA Yo I guess the first lady

She said it was okay And her word stands Passing Shula fin out the hard way I'm more of a power trip Than the newest array This song's a $50 fine But I won't pay You kick a pregnant girl out of school

Guy that did it to a $50 fine It's all the playing cool This stuff needs to stop Or I'm gonna lose it I'm coming so corrected And died it could turn out my music I've been to learn not to touch my mic again 23 people that voted for

A special letter again Let everyone's duty here's to keep me accountable in my business works for the chapel. What's wrong? I can stay and goodbye because it's my anointing. 25 now, so a good time to start with be 40. That's remarkable and really very lovely. Maybe it's your nooints because you're so ugly.

I'm slim shady as I'm the real shady, all you other slim shady are just demuditating. So won't the real slim shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up, please stand up. Because I'm slim shady if I'm the real shady or you other slim shady is just demotating. So won't the real slim shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up. A sin is forgiven by confessing in a $50 fine. Never seen so many nine people in the same place and time. The 99 basketball team won a few games, but that's not the reason we were on the front page.

I wish I wasn't athletes so I could get away with anything and have alumni paying for my apartment next spring. A perfect little school reaching the nation's. Once upon a time on NCAA probation. So send a demo to the Deans. Oohie! And you can kiss my little... New tea.

Sorry, Gahado. Didn't mean to cost trouble. Excuse me, I'm just pop in the O.RU bubble. Crazy as an OAU students starting the Simpsons. Campus TV shows don't get his radio. But don't mention that you could get suspended for the sin of smoking and drinking, but not a 400-pounder-car grubbing and burking. I see you smiling with green lettuce in your teeth.

You'll be passing out of the field test next week. It's cool, though. Go ahead and snack like that. And two years later, you'll still be fat like that. I'm freaking if I'm a little straight.