Former national security adviser Michael Flynn said over the weekend that a Myanmar-like coup — in which the military overthrew a democratically elected government — “should happen” in the U.S.
Appearing in Dallas at a QAnon conference, Flynn was asked during a Q&A session that was shared in a Twitter video: “I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can’t happen here?”
After cheers from the crowd died down, Flynn responded: “No reason. I mean, it should happen here.”
Myanmar’s military seized power Feb. 1 and imprisoned the country’s democratically elected leaders, on the basis of unproven allegations of voter fraud. At least 800 civilians have died, and thousands have been arrested, in protests that have wracked the Southeast Asian nation in the months that followed.
Supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory have praised the Myanmar coup and called for the U.S. military to do the same, citing unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
Flynn, a former Army general, was fired by President Donald Trump in 2017 after less than a month as his national security adviser, after it was revealed that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence. After pleading guilty to making false statements to the FBI during the Mueller investigation, Flynn moved to withdraw his plea and the Justice Department dropped charges against him. A federal judge ruled the matter be placed on hold, but Trump pardoned Flynn last November before a ruling on whether the Justice Department could drop the criminal case against him.
Last summer, Flynn posted a video on Twitter TWTR, -0.14% reciting QAnon slogans. Twitter banned Flynn and others in January in a purge of accounts promoting QAnon theories.
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