Trump's ex-advisor says COVID-19 pandemic was fabricated to control 2020 elections

Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has alleged that the COVID-19 pandemic was fabricated to control the 2020 U.S. election.

Flynn, a retired general who is one of the most well-known figures in the QAnon conspiracy theory, claimed the novel coronavirus was made before the November election to "control" society.

"When you look around the world, why do all these places not have the problems that we keep getting beat over the head and shoulders on in this country when it comes to Covid?" Flynn said in the Friday interview, according to The Independent.

"Why? Because everything, everything, and this is my truth, what I believe, everything is a distraction to what happened on November 3. Everything we hear about Covid, and how Covid started before November 3, it is all meant to control, it is all meant to gain control of a society to be able to force decisions on society, instead of allowing 'we the people' to make decisions," he added.

Flynn served as Trump's National Security Advisor in January and February 2017. He resigned after reports claimed that he lied about his contact with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the U.S. at the time.

The former general later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. However, the Justice Department, then led by attorney general William Barr, dropped the case against him. On Nov. 25, Trump granted Flynn a full pardon of "any and all possible offenses."

In the Friday interview, Flynn also claimed that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for "30 years." The drug had previously been touted by Trump to be a "game-changer" against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hydroxychloroquine, which is commonly used to treat malaria, lupus, and arthritis, is routinely administered to members of the U.S. military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I am as healthy as the next person, I have been taking hydroxychloroquine for 30 years," he said.

Multiple studies have since suggested that hydroxychloroquine did not offer any benefits when given early on in the course of infection, nor did it help patients who were hospitalized due to COVID-19.