Billionaire Anti-Vaxxer 'Sick' With COVID-19 After Leading Pandemic Misinformation Campaign

An Australian anti-vaxxer and mining billionaire is reportedly sick with COVID-19 after he was seen pulling into a hospital on Thursday, Feb. 24, due to COVID-like symptoms that prevent him from any further travels.

Sixty-seven-year-old Clive Palmer, whose rhetoric for the past few years has centered around anti-vaccine sentiments as well as reducing health mandates meant to prevent COVID-19, has been hospitalized since Thursday in what unnamed sources say are “very sick” conditions, the Daily Beast reported.

The elderly anti-vaxxer billionaire is reportedly battling pneumonia and COVID-19 according to sources inside the hospital, though Palmer’s spokesperson themself has yet to confirm the case as to whether he was battling the virus.

He was previously brought to a private hospital in Pindara at the Gold Coast of Australia, with Palmer’s spokesperson saying that he was exhibiting “flu-like symptoms” and that he was being prohibited from traveling to Canberra, according to the Guardian.

Palmer has been an outspoken anti-vaxxer in public, with his rhetoric fueling the measures and beliefs of his United Australia Party, which has already spent $20 million on attack ads against possible opponents and is planning on fielding candidates on the upcoming federal election.

“I’m not vaccinated and I don’t intend to be vaccinated,” he once said during a rally in November 2021 as he continues to advocate against vaccinations and health measures against COVID-19.

His United Australia Party has been described as extremely unpopular, with opinion polls putting the people’s negative opinions about the man at 59 percent while only 8 percent of the country has a positive view on the man.

“Think about in the United States one of the Koch brothers running for president or something and outspending the Democrats and the Republicans,” Peter Chen, lecturer at the University of Sydney, said. “It’s that sort of crazy money.”

Many do not believe that his political aspirations are sincere, with a significant percentage of citizens and members of the government believing that the political party is mostly for trolling or an attempt to get better mining policies.

“One of the most dangerous places to be in Australia is between Clive Palmer and his business interests. He is obsessed with money and obsessed with talking about his wealth,” Member of Parliament Patrick Gorman said.