Fred Lowry. (Volusia County photo)
A coronavirus denier who spread QAnon conspiracy theories from the pulpit has been hospitalized with a COVID-19 infection.
Volusia County councilman Fred Lowry, who also repeated conspiracy theories about the pandemic and the 2020 election during sermons at Deltona Lakes Baptist Church, last attended a council meeting Aug. 17, reported The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
"He is in the hospital wrestling with COVID-19," said county chair Jeff Brower. "It's been about three weeks now."
The 66-year-old Lowry is halfway through his second term on the Volusia County Council, after previously serving as a Deltona city commissioner from 2010 to 2014.
Lowry faced calls to resign after a video of his May 30 sermon was posted online, showing him telling congregants the pandemic was not real and passing along outdated death tolls to support his claims.
"We did not have a pandemic, folks," Lowry said. "We were lied to."
The Republican pastor also referred to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as "Dr. Falsey" and called him a liar and pervert.
Lowry then then repeated QAnon lies that shadowy elites engaged in child trafficking so they could harvest adrenochrome to use as a hallucinogenic and anti-aging drug.
"This is supposed to be rampant I hear in Hollywood and among the elite," Lowry said. "I don't know if it's true, but where there's smoke."
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