Members of former President Donald Trump’s “inner circle,” including Lara and Eric Trump, are scheduled to appear at a North Carolina event featuring right-wing commentators who have pushed the conspiracy theory that Hurricane Helene was a controlled or manipulated weather event. The tour’s organizers, who have close ties to the Trump team, have claimed that “weather manipulation is real” and said the recent storm proves “the globalists are pulling out all the stops.”

The government did not control or manipulate the deadly hurricane. Such claims have caused significant harm to officials and first responders who are working on recovery efforts in North Carolina. 

Clay Clark and Mike Flynn — who served as Trump’s national security adviser — are co-founders of the “ReAwaken America” tour. Their next stop is on October 18 and 19 in Selma, North Carolina. A promotional flyer for the event lists numerous Trump allies and surrogates as scheduled speakers, including Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, Eric Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Kash Patel, Peter Navarro, Alina Habba, Christina Bobb, Devin Nunes, and Roger Stone. (Clark said on October 11 that Lara Trump would be in attendance.) 

ReAwaken America has a toxic history: Media Matters previously documented that the tour has featured at least five Hitler-promoting antisemites. 

Clark, who organizes the tour, has billed the North Carolina event as featuring “basically President Trump’s inner circle.” He made similar remarks before, including saying that “Trump's inner circle is now going, they're all reaching out to our tour, to the ReAwaken America tour.” 

Team Trump is sharing a stage with numerous speakers who have pushed the conspiracy theory that Hurricane Helene was the result of weather manipulation or control. 

The following speakers are scheduled to speak in North Carolina, according to the ReAwaken America tour’s most recent promotional poster, and have promoted weather manipulation conspiracy theories. 

Clay Clark is “a dear friend” of Eric Trump who said during an October 3 interview: “Weather manipulation is real, and the town or the area that was most devastated by the flood happens to be in a town that sits on America's largest lithium deposits.” He also encouraged people to look into HAARP. 

Notably, Clark is also organizing another event in North Carolina this week: the 11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting, which is hosted by former President Trump. 

Mike Flynn is Donald Trump's disgraced former national security adviser. Trump told Flynn last year that he would bring him back if he is reelected to the White House. On social media, Flynn shared a video on October 7 which claimed that “Hurricane Helene was an ATTACK caused by Weather Manipulation!” He also suggested that “the mountains of N.C.” show that “the globalists are pulling out all the stops. Don’t worry, the real storm is coming.” 

Julie Green is a “prophet” who issues bizarre and pro-Trump commentaries. Eric Trump has told Green that she’s “so incredible,” called her a “warrior,” and thanked her for their “friendship.” She claimed on October 9 that the Lord told her that the recent hurricanes were “all man-made” and that the weather events were deliberately created or manipulated as a form of “election interference.” 

Seth Holehouse is a podcaster who gained fame when Donald Trump boosted an election denying video featuring him. Holehouse spent his October 3 podcast pushing conspiracy theories about the hurricane, stating: “To me, it looks like the people controlling our government and controlling these officials, whoever it is — we’re not going to get into it on this show — that what they did is they created a massive storm or they took an existing storm and they amplified it. They steered it just over top of the region they needed to absolutely destroy. Then they seized control of all the aid to make sure that nothing could be salvaged there.” 

Lara Logan is a widely discredited right-wing commentator. She shared a conspiracy theory-laden video on October 6 essentially claiming that Helene was the result of weather manipulation and control and wrote: “What happened in North Carolina with Hurricane Helene? Make up your own mind. But listen to everything.” 

Jane Ruby is a health misinformer and podcaster who posted a video on October 5 supposedly proving that the government steers hurricanes and wrote: “HURRICANE HELENE IS A DIRECT ATTACK ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT”. She also wrote on September 26, “IS #Helene A GOVERNMENT OPERATION? SEE ENERGY BEAMS FROM THE GROUND SHOOTING AT STORM,” and later asked: “Were Direct Energy Weapons To Supplement Hurricane Helene?” 

Sherri Tenpenny is a health misinformer who has shared numerous antisemitic claims, including Holocaust denial. On October 3, she wrote: “What do Maui and North Carolina have in common? Pesky residents who won't get out of the way of the lucrative deals our government wants. In Maui, it was land. In North Carolina, it is lithium.” She also shared a post claiming, “Cloud seeding or manipulating the weather is real. Think Hurricanes Helene and, now, Milton on its way. Kills Americans, catastrophic events JUST BEFORE AN ELECTION. Voting becomes impossible for many. October surprise??” She then commented: “Weather Warfare is next level Covid.” 

Ann Vandersteel is a far-right podcaster. She promoted the conspiracy theory that the hurricane was an attempt to steal lithium deposits in North Carolina and wrote: “Just hide your weather manipulation in plain sight.”