SÃO PAULO-SP – The coronavirus pandemic has sharpened the populist political instincts of the global right. Since its worsening, the crisis has been used by political leaders and their supporters in Brazil, and in the US and Europe as a tool to attack some of the conservatives’ favorite targets, such as globalism, immigration and freedom of movement.
In an unusual move, some have embraced the thesis that the disease is part of a global conspiracy by elites in collusion with multinational pharmaceutical companies, a type of discourse that has always been more associated with the left.
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“The coronavirus scaremongering by the deep state will go down in history as one of the biggest scams to manipulate the economy. Even if it is to eliminate dissent and push mandatory remedies,” wrote Shiva Ayaddurai.
He is an American scientist of Indian origin who has a doctorate from the respected MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in biological engineering and is influential in conservative circles in the USA.
Famous for claiming to have invented email in the late 1970s, a claim that is not widely accepted in scientific circles, Ayaddurai has been referred to as a technical genius by the American right since he outlined his thesis in a tweet on March 9.
One of those who cited it was Sean Hannity, a Fox News star and one of the journalists closest to President Donald Trump. “It could be true,” he said, echoing Ayaddurai’s writing.
Former advisor to President Ronald Reagan (1981-89) and also a conservative commentator, Jeffrey Lord classified the corona crisis as a new strategy by the American left to wear down Trump before the election.
“With the death of the farce of the spurious alliance between Trump and Russia and the farce of impeachment, we now have the new farce of the coronavirus,” he said.
In Brazil, YouTuber Bernardo Kuster, one of Bolsonaro’s main supporters on social media, also cited scientist Ayaddurai in an article he wrote for the online newspaper Brasil Sem Medo, which is run by philosopher Olavo de Carvalho. “The UN, CNN, Globo, WHO, major vaccine companies and the entire global establishment are singing the same siren song,” Kuster wrote.
“I can’t get it out of my head that this forced approach is, first and foremost, a huge psychological experiment of manipulation on a global scale,” he continued.