The emergence of a new strain of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, has sparked a wave of defiance among conspiracy theorists who fear that health-related lockdowns could influence the upcoming presidential election.
This "do not comply" movement is gaining traction as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency following the death of at least 450 individuals in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to this highly infectious disease, which is now spreading across Central and East Africa.
According to Newsweek, Sweden's public health agency confirmed the first known case of the new strain outside of Africa, a day after the WHO's declaration. This development has led to calls for a "coordinated international response" to halt the spread of mpox, as stated by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. This marks the second time in just over two years that the WHO has declared mpox a global emergency.
The outbreak has stirred anxieties that mpox could trigger the next pandemic, leading to worldwide shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. This fear has incited some alarm among those who note the coincidence of a deadly virus threat during another election year.
A supporter of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement responded to a video of Valentina Gomez, a former GOP candidate for Missouri's secretary of state, on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "Do not comply! We will not comply! Another election, another pandemic scare. Monkeypox - Imagine that. Get out of here with that Mpox nonsense. We will not listen to the WHO."
In the video, Gomez, who identifies as an "America First-MAGA" Republican, declared that she never received a COVID vaccination and that she was "definitely not getting vaccinated for the monkeypox bull**** that is coming right on time for election season." She urged her fellow patriots, "do not comply."
Another X user echoed this sentiment, tweeting, "I will NOT comply with any Monkeypox lockdown or take any Monkeypox vaccine if it is mandated. Who's with me?"
In early 2020, the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe, with the U.S. reporting its first case of COVID-19 on January 20. The U.S. public health officials attempted to contain the virus through lockdowns and other restrictions, but these government-mandated orders quickly polarized the nation, leading to protests across the country.
The global health emergency prompted many states to modify their policies to expand mail-in voting, also known as absentee voting, to minimize infection risk. This method of casting ballots gained popularity in 2020, accounting for just over half of primary votes cast in 37 states. However, it also divided voters who supported then-President Donald Trump and those who backed Joe Biden.
A Pew Research Center study found that Biden voters were nearly twice as likely as Trump voters to vote by mail. The study revealed that 37 percent of Trump voters cast their ballots in person on Election Day in 2020, compared with 17 percent of Biden voters.
The increase in mail-in voting and Biden's electoral victory led Trump to partially attribute his loss to absentee voting, which he repeatedly and falsely claimed resulted in widespread election fraud. Since then, Trump and the rest of the Republican Party have embraced the mail-in ballot process.
A video of Trump discussing the rise of COVID variants in 2023 has resurfaced amid the mpox outbreak. The "do not comply" movement has used this video as further justification to resist concerns about a global health emergency. The video has been shared on X with misleading claims that Trump is talking about mpox. Users responded to the clip with comments like "Trump warns about lockdowns and election fraud with monkeypox," and "Refuse to comply!"
In the August 2023 video, Trump stated: "The left-wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates with all of their sudden fearmongering about the new variants that are coming. Gee whiz, you know what else is coming? An election. They want to restart the COVID hysteria so they can justify more lockdowns, more censorship, more illegal drop boxes, more mail-in ballots."
At that time, a highly mutated COVID-19 variant named BA.2.86 was under close scrutiny by health officials as it joined HV.1 and EG.5 as one of the most prevalent strains in the country. The HV.1 subvariant was still the dominant strain, accounting for 31 percent of cases.
Although mpox does not spread as easily as COVID, vaccines that prevent the disease already exist. However, these vaccines are typically only available for those at risk or those who have been in close contact with an infected person, which is how the disease is transmitted. Mpox causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, and 4 in 100 cases result in death.
The WHO first declared mpox a global health emergency in July 2022, when a different strain spread to over 70 countries and was linked to more than 99,000 cases and over 200 deaths, as reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The WHO revoked that status in May 2023 due to a decline in cases.
So far, outbreaks have been reported in 15 countries, with the majority of the cases still in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As of Wednesday, there are no known cases in the U.S. The CDC has stated that the risk of the outbreak reaching the U.S. remains very low.
Login