Stella Immanuel is a Houston doctor who’s become a minor celebrity on more conspiratorial internet corners, largely for espousing her contrarian views about the effectiveness of masks in stopping the spread of the coronavirus and praising the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. Both of beliefs have been debunked by the overwhelming majority healthcare experts, but that hasn’t stopped Immanuel’s videos from racking up millions of views and even getting praise from Donald Trump Jr. (“must watch!”) and a retweet from President Donald Trump himself.
Less well-publicized are some of Immanuel’s other beliefs, which go well beyond “controversial.” She has touted her beliefs that the government is using extraterrestrial DNA in its medicine and is secretly working on a vaccine that will make people less religious. She has also repeatedly warned about the physical side effects of having sex with demons and witches while dreaming. And while she lobbied Congress as recently as Monday, she has also espoused her belief that the government is run at least in part by “reptilians.”
In her viral speech, which was hosted by a group called Tea Party Patriots, Immanuel says she’s successfully treated hundreds of COVID patients with hydroxychloroquine, a drug that Trump himself has said he’s used (although he has not been infected with COVID-19.) So far, no study has found any benefit for COVID-19 patients taking the drug.
Immanuel also said that wearing a mask does not prevent the spread of COVID. “Hello, you don’t need a mask,” she said. “There is a cure.”
Brietbart posted the video of her speech online, where it quickly amassed 13 million views before Facebook and Twitter deleted it for violating company guidelines about misinformation. Immanuel tweeted that if Facebook did not re-share her video, God would strike its servers down.
Hello Facebook put back my profile page and videos up or your computers with start crashing till you do. You are not bigger that God. I promise you. If my page is not back up face book will be down in Jesus name.
— Stella Immanuel MD (@stella_immanuel) July 28, 2020
In sermons posted online and articles on her website, Immanuel — who is a registered physician in Texas — says that a variety of physical ailments like infertility, cysts and other gynecological issues are caused by witches and demons having sex with people in the dreamworld.
The Daily Beast also found sermons in which Immanuel claimed the government was concocting a vaccine to keep people from becoming religious, space alien DNA is being used in modern medicine and that a witch is plotting to use gay marriage to destroy the world with some help from the Illuminati.
“There are people that are ruling this nation that are not even human,” Immanuel said a 2015 sermon about the Illuminati, alleging that she’s had a conversation with a “reptilian spirit” who was “half-human, half-ET.”
After sharing her video about COVID-19 online, Donald Trump Jr.’s Twitter account was briefly suspended (known as “Twitter Jail”) for spreading false information.
It’s not entirely clear Immanuel believes her own pitch. While she claims not to believe in masks, a recent Facebook video shows her instructing patients to make sure they’re wearing one if they come to her clinic seeking treatment. Two other recent videos show her wearing what appears to be N95.
