Michael Flynns ReAwaken Roadshow Recruits Army of God'

By MICHELLE R. SMITH and RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press

BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) By the time the red, white and blue-colored microphone had been switched off, the crowd of 3,000 had listened to hours of invective and grievance.

Were under warfare, one speaker told them. Another said she would take a bullet for my nation, while a third insisted, They hate you because they hate Jesus. Attendees were told now is the time to put on the whole armor of God. Then retired three-star Army general Michael Flynn, the tour's biggest draw, invited people to be baptized.

Scores of people walked out of the speakers tent to three large metal tubs filled with water. While praise music played in the background, one conference-goer after another stepped in. Pastors then lowered them under the surface, welcoming them into their movement in the name of Jesus Christ. One woman wore a T-shirt that read Army of God.

Flynn warned the crowd that they were in the midst of a spiritual war and a political war and urged people to get involved.

ReAwaken America was launched by Flynn, a former White House national security adviser, and Oklahoma entrepreneur Clay Clark a few months after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol failed to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Attendees and speakers still insist against all evidence and dozens of court rulings that Donald Trump rightfully won.

Since early last year, the ReAwaken America Tour has carried its message of a country under siege to tens of thousands of people in 15 cities and towns. The tour serves as a traveling roadshow and recruiting tool for an ascendant Christian nationalist movement that's wrapped itself in God, patriotism and politics and has grown in power and influence inside the Republican Party.