Clay Clark
Clay Clark (born 1980 or 1981) is a business coach and entrepreneur in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is also the founder of the ReAwaken America Tour.
Business career
As a teenager, Clark founded DJ Connections in his home state of Minnesota. He moved the business to Tulsa when he relocated there to attend Oral Roberts University.[1] During these years, Clark was a party and wedding disc-jockey who went by "DJ Clay."[2][3] In addition to DJ Connections, he founded several other businesses, including Thrive 15 and Elephant in the Room.[4] In 2007, Clark's success led to his being named Oklahoma's Young Entrepreneur of the Year.[5] His current business venture is the Thrive Time Show, a multi-focused business that incorporates a business podcast and business coaching.[6]
Political activities
2009 Tulsa mayoral election
Clark announced that he was a candidate in the 2009 Tulsa mayoral election. His platform was that of a "staunch republican [sic] conservative" who was pro-life and anti-illegal immigration.[2] He withdrew from the race and supported fellow Republican Chris Medlock's unsuccessful attempt to win his party's nomination and replace Kathy Taylor.[7][8]
COVID-19 disinformation
In August 2020, Clark helped initiate a lawsuit against the city of Tulsa for its mask mandate to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The lawsuit alleged that wearing masks caused oxygen deprivation, leading to "migraine headaches, shortness of breath and dizziness."[9] The lawsuit was dropped in March 2021.[10]
Clark has publicly espoused his belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. When he spoke at the January 5, 2021, rally held at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., in support of Donald Trump's protest of the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Clark told attendees that the coronavirus pandemic was a hoax and instructed them to "turn to the person next to you and give them a hug, someone you don't know. Go hug somebody. Go ahead and spread it out, mass spreader. It's a mass-spreader event!"[11][12]
On a June 2021 episode of The Stew Peters Show, he argued that the COVID-19 vaccine contained luceiferase, which he believed was a cryptocurrency technology associated with the Mark of the Beast prophesied in Revelation 13:16-18.[13] This conspiracy, according to Clark, included Bill Gates, under the influence of performance artist (and alleged Satanist) Marina Abramović, and Jeffrey Epstein. Clark accused Gates and Epstein of attempting to create a new race of humans by combining luciferase and Epstein's DNA into the COVID-19 vaccine.[13]
At an October 2021 rally in Salt Lake City, Utah, Clark claimed that "COVID-19 is 100 percent treatable using budesonide, hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin." He also accused George Soros of funding remdesivir, a drug used to treat severe cases of COVID-19 but which Clark said was "killing COVID-19 patients in the hospital because it causes renal failure."[14]
ReAwaken America Tour
According to Clark, as the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, he asked God, "What can I do to stop the quarantines, the curfews, the mandates, the lockdowns?" The answer he received, Clark said, with "100% of God-ordained clarity . . . was to begin reawakening America."[15]
In the spring of 2021, Clark inaugurated the "Health and Freedom" events to protest COVID-19 mitigation measures such as masking and vaccinations.[16] According to Clark, he was inspired to undertake the tour by a 1963 prophecy by Charismatic minister Kenneth E. Hagin, who predicted that "there would be an atheistic, communist, Marxist and racially divisive spirit that would descend upon America" and that "the spark of the revival would start from Tulsa, Oklahoma."[15] Clark also stated that he received confirmation of his importance from a 2013 prophecy by the South-African Charismatic evangelist Kim Clement, who identified a "Mr. Clark" about whom he believed God said: "You have been determined through your prayers to influence this nation. You're watching me; you're an influential person. The Spirit of God says, 'Hear the word of the prophet to you as a king, I will open that door that you prayed about.'"[17][15]
In the summer of 2021, these "Health and Freedom" events were rebranded the ReAwaken America Tour, sponsored by Charisma News.[18] While the events (under both names) initially received attention for their opposition to COVID-19 mitigation measures, from the beginning, they also focused significant attention on supporting conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election, including those espoused by Qanon followers.[19][20] The number and identities of the speakers at each 2021 and 2022 event varied. Michael Flynn and Mike Lindell were frequent speakers; a partial list of other speakers included Jim Cavaziel, Sean Feucht, Alex Jones, Alan Keyes, Greg Locke, Lara Logan, Sidney Powell, Roger Stone, and Lin Wood.[16][18]
During a ReAwaken America Tour event held in November 2021 at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, Clark reportedly led attendees in the "Let's Go Brandon!" chant, a euphemism used in place of the more explicit "Fuck Joe Biden!"[21][22][23] At the same event, Michael Flynn stated, "If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God, and one religion under God."[24]
At a December 9-11, 2021, weekend event held at Elevate Life Church in Dallas, Texas, several speakers, including Joe Oltmann and Jovan Hutton Pulitzer, became ill. Oltmann claimed that he was "99%" sure that his symptoms were from contact with anthrax. Clark denied the accusation, saying that what some people believed was an anthrax attack was actually just a fog machine. He also denied being part of the Illuminati.[25][26][27]
In December 2021, Eric Coomer, a former executive at Dominion Voting Systems, filed a federal defamation lawsuit against Clark, his ThriveTime Show, and his ReAwaken America Tour for having "monetized a false election fraud narrative" that produced "a constant drumbeat of outright falsehoods intended to place [Eric] Coomer at the center of an imagined conspiracy to defraud the American people." The suit alleges that Clark began his attacks in December 2020 during a podcast interview when he told Joe Oltmann that Coomer "could/should be put to death" for treason.[28]
In early 2022, Clark began incorporating conspiracy theories about the "Great Reset" into the tour.[29]
Personal life
Clark is married to Vanessa, a former contestant in the Mrs. Oklahoma contest.[30] The two met as freshmen at Oral Roberts University.[29] They have five children, who are homeschooled.[4][31][32] One of their sons, Aubrey, was born blind but was miraculously healed, according to Vanessa Clark.[30][33]
References
- ↑ Blossom, Debbie. "Expanding Playlist: DJ Connections Life of the Party: Deejay's company big hit". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2021-12-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Former Tulsa DJ Wants to be Mayor". Public Radio Tulsa. 2009-06-04. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ↑ "Clay Clark Spins Success At Growing DJ Connection". GTR Newspapers. 2019-01-19. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Clegg, Lane. "Five questions: Clay Clark". TulsaPeople Magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2021-12-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Griffin, David. "Clay Clark Running For Tulsa Mayor". www.newson6.com. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ↑ "Business Coach | Business Conferences | Business Podcasts". The ThriveTime Show. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ↑ "29-year-old businessman Clay Clark says he's running for Tulsa mayor". Oklahoman.com. 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2021-12-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)[dead link] - ↑ Bates, Michael (July 10, 2009). "Clay Clark withdraws, joins Medlock campaign". BatesLine. Archived from the original on 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2021-12-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Anti-mask group sues city of Tulsa, alleges masks cause oxygen deprivation". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2021-12-15. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Killman, Curtis. "Group drops lawsuit challenging Tulsa mask mandate". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2021-12-15. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Hundreds of Trump supporters flock to DC ahead of vote". AP NEWS. 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ↑ "Pro-Trump Speaker Wants To Turn D.C. Rally Into 'Mass-Spreader Event'". HuffPost. 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Clay Clark Exposes COVID, PCR Tests, Treatments and ULTIMATE PLAN Behind HOAX Threatening Mankind, retrieved 2021-12-14
- ↑ "COVID denial, communism and QAnon. Conspiracy theory-fueled conference hits Salt Lake City". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Strang, Stephen. "Clay Clark Explains How Prophecies by Kenneth E. Hagin and Kim Clement Inspired ReAwaken America Tour and Documentary". Charisma News. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Griffin, David. "Conservative Conference Held In Broken Arrow To Address COVID-19 Response". www.news9.com. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ↑ Kumar, Anugrah. "'Prophet' Kim Clement Dies at 60". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2021-12-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 18.0 18.1 "ReAwaken America Tour". The ThriveTime Show. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ↑ "Controversial conference to end with mask burning event in Broken Arrow". KTUL. 2021-04-17. Archived from the original on 2021-04-17. Retrieved 2021-12-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "April 16th & 17th - Conference Itinerary". The ThriveTime Show. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ↑ Tooley, Mark. "Vulgarly reawakening America". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on 2021-11-18. Retrieved 2021-12-13. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Why the 'Let's go, Brandon' crowd was at home at Cornerstone Church". San Antonio Report. 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
- ↑ Nowlin, Sanford. "Cornerstone Church said it 'does not endorse' far-right rally it hosted, yet its pastor spoke from the stage". San Antonio Current. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
- ↑ Keith, Morgan. "Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn calls for one religion in America". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ↑ "A bunch of QAnon promoters got sick after a conference—they blame anthrax instead of COVID". The Daily Dot. 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
- ↑ "People Got Sick at a Conspiracy Conference. They're Sure It's Anthrax". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
- ↑ "A bunch of conspiracy theorists got sick after a conference and think it's anthrax". Mic. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
- ↑ "Dominion Voting's Eric Coomer files new federal defamation lawsuit against conservative talk show host, tour". The Colorado Sun. 2021-12-23. Retrieved 2021-12-24.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Stone, Ken (2022-03-11). "Eric Trump, Gen. Flynn, Roger Stone Set to Speak at San Marcos Church on Weekend". Times of San Diego. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Sherman, Bill. "Blind son who gained sight makes Mrs. Oklahoma contestant believe in miracles". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2021-12-14. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Business Viewpoint with Clay Clark: The pain and gain of entrepreneurial success". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2021-12-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Clark, Clay (2019). The Entrepreneur's Dragon Energy: The Mindset Kanye, Trump, and You Need to Succeed. Thrive Publishing. p. 6. Search this book on
- ↑ Clark, Vanessa (2014). Now I See: A Mothers [sic] Memoir of Her Son's Miraculous Healing. ThriveEdutainment. Search this book on
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