He's not alone. Twitter search shows lots of folks claiming the same. A lot of the videos and tweets include a screenshot from something called Apex World News. tiktok.com/@awelloilednur…
So who is @apexworldnews? The account is a typical "breaking news" type of misinfo account. No ownership listed, spammy and unverified content. It does list a website. But ... expired.
To the Wayback! Site looks junky, serves ads. And much of the content is authored by a "Grace Siwale." There is a person on Twitter with this name (not linking) and she shares a lot of Apex World News links. She's also deeply religious and a fan of one particular preacher.
Uebert Angel a British-Zimbabwean who preaches the prosperity gospel. ("God wants you to be rich and he'll make it so if you ... give me money?" I don't know just go with it.)
And a little Googling shows us that. Angel founded Apex in 2020. uebertangel.org/2020/07/17/pro…
The kind of thing you might read / see on Apex World News? Misinformation Madlibs:
Just for good measure, we can take a look at the website in DomainTools and see that Apex shares a mail server IP with other sites, including those that clearly belong to the preacher.
So, I wouldn't get my news from a so-called prophet's junk news site, but you know who might? Rogan fan, vaccine critic, Ivermectin-loving, friend of the IDW, Chris is a self described financial analyst & founder of a self-help/actualization thingie that's definitely not an MLM.
New from me: Enid, Oklahoma elected a white nationalist to its City Council, igniting a fight for the soul of the city, one that united a coalition of its most progressive residents and divided its most conservative. Now voters will decide: Should he stay? nbcnews.com/news/us-news/o…
Before he won a seat on the City Council, Judd Blevins was a leader in the now-defunct white power group, Identity Evropa. In 2017, he marched in Charlottesville at a rally where a civil rights activist was murdered. He’s never answered for it. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/o…
Over the last year, grandmothers and a priest in Enid have been branded antifa radicals and local organizers accused of attempted murder, while a national white power movement staked its claim on the city. What happens next, is up to voters. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/o…
Measles is surging in Europe and spreading in the US, so the anti-vaccine industry is brushing off its playbook to bring us the “this highly contagious disease is no big deal” play: measles edition. nbcnews.com/health/health-…
Here’s the president of Robert F. Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense (a lawyer not a doctor) last week:
According to actual doctors, measles is a miserable disease. Globally it killed 136,000 in 2022. At best for U.S. kids, it’s fever, flu symptoms and an itchy rash. At worst for every 1,000 cases, 200 are hospitalized, 50 get pneumonia, and 1-3 die.
New: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hires Del Bigtree, popular anti-vaccine activist, as his presidential campaign’s communications director. The latest evidence that RFK's presidential run is a dressed-up national anti-vaccine campaign. A few exclusive details: nbcnews.com/politics/2024-…
I got the newest 990s from Bigtree's nonprofit. 2022 was a banner year. The group brought in $13.4 mil and Bigtree got a big raise, bringing his salary to $284,000. It's unclear how this new post will affect the nonprofit, which is prohibited from engaging in political activity.
If you don't know Bigtree — he's quite the character.
NEW from me on The Epoch Times: A persecuted religious group's PR newsletter is now one of the most influential U.S. conservative media orgs.
How they’ve ridden the moment of political polarization & conspirituality to make millions and go mainstream. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/e…
I wanted to check in after our 2019 investigation revealed how The Epoch Times ran content farms & poured money to support Trump’s reelection. Here are the wildest things I learned reporting the story on its meteoric rise.
1. The paper struggled for decades. It's rich now.
2. It's attracted both ends of the political horseshoe. On a hike last year, Robert Kennedy Jr. called it a "daily read." And a Republican Rep took to the house floor this year to sing its praises.
EXCLUSIVE @MikeBenzCyber, former State Dept official & rising voice in the “anti-censorship” movement seems to have a past as“Frame Game,” a popular alt-right YouTuber who frequented white supremacist podcasts and blamed Jews for “white genocide.” nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
@MikeBenzCyber Frame Game hid his face while pushing racist conspiracy theories. But slips like naming browsers “Mike” in livestreams and websites that autopopulated with his Facebook photo, revealed details about his identity. Benz hung up on me when I asked for comment. Receipts in story.
@MikeBenzCyber Frame Game stopped short of advocating for the white ethnostate his interviewers wanted. But he said and wrote some noxious things. A lot of them. Like this. Maybe most often about the ADL, which he called “the Jewish censorship squad.”
OK, so remember the "flu shot cheerleader" — a 2009 media sensation/meme for a story that a vaccine triggered her strange disability. I reported the story out – and she has a warning about the anti-vaccine movement that made her its poster girl:
The media storm came as the world was in the midst of a pandemic (not that one)—a novel H1N1 flu—and anti-vaccine activists were on the hunt for vaccine injury stories. Jenny McCarthy’s group found her and offered a cure – if she starred in an anti-vaccine documentary.
A still:
Reporting this story was a lesson in how history rhymes. The middle of a pandemic, and lazy media was lit up by a beautiful white woman in distress with a story too good to check. And anti-vaxxers and charlatans used it to push their debunked claims and ineffective treatments.