Doug Kuzma, an anti-vax and QAnon podcaster who contracted COVID-19 after attending a far-right conspiracy theory conference in Texas, died from complications due to the virus earlier this week.
Kuzma, 61, from Newport News, Virginia, died on Jan. 3 after being hospitalized 10 days earlier. Kuzma broadcasted on the FROG News podcasting network, which stands for "Fully Rely On God." He and his FROG fellow hosts pushed an array of baseless conspiracy theories ranging from QAnon to COVID denial and election fraud lies.
Kuzma Fell Sick After Attending ReAwaken America in Dallas, Claimed it was Bronchitis
Kuzma attended the ReAwaken America conference in Dallas on the weekend of Dec. 11, posting a picture of his media pass on his Facebook page. Other images Kuzma posted from the conference show large crowds in confined spaces without any social distancing or masks.
"Podcaster room overrun with people. Chaos," Kuzma captioned one image.The event, which was attended by the likes of disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and former President Donald Trump's son Eric.
After the event, several attendees started falling sick, but alleged that they had been targeted by an anthrax attack, as reported by The Daily Beast. Kuzma also reported that he was feeling ill, but claimed it was just his chronic bronchitis flaring up again. On Dec. 15 he wrote on Facebook that he had a fever and said it was time to call the doctor.
Kuzma Refused to Get a Covid Test, Joked About Omicron
Someone commented that he should get a COVID test anyway, but Kuzma responded: "No way." When the commenter said it was better to be "safe than sorry," Kuzma once again lashed out, writing: "You must have lost your mind, so they can kill me, and try and give me the jab. I'll die at the house before I go to the hospital."
Days before the event, Kuzma shared a meme joking about the Omicron variant. "The Omicron variant reportedly has mild symptoms like soreness and exhaustion. The same thing you'd feel after a hard days work," the meme read. "No wonder liberals are terrified of it."
Kuzma was reportedly found unconscious at his house on Christmas Eve and rushed to the hospital, where he was admitted to the ICU but did not respond to treatment. He was placed on a ventilator and died a few days later.
Kuzma Pushed Anti-Vax, Covid and QAnon Conspiracy Theories
According to a fellow member of FROG News, the final message Kuzma sent was a photo of himself with a "refill of ivermectin." Despite the mainstream medical community's insistence that ivermectin is an anti-parasitic medication that isn't known to be effective against coronavirus, many right-wingers believe otherwise.
Kuzma and Frog News pushed anti-vax conspiracies since the beginning of the pandemic, hosting numerous so-called experts who have shared wildly conspiratorial and outright false claims about the virus and the vaccines. He also showed support for the QAnon cult, with posters seen in the background of his studio featuring well-known QAnon phrases like "the great awakening" and "WWG1WGA."
