An evangelist with ties to President Donald Trump is now the subject of controversy after a video of her went viral.
Gloria Copeland, a member of the president’s faith advisory council, posted a video online where she was telling followers that flu vaccines were not necessary because,
Jesus himself gave us the flu shot.
The video quickly made the rounds after a number of watch groups re-posted and shared it on social media platforms, ABC News reports.
Copeland, 75, can be seen and heard saying, “Listen, partners, we don’t have a flu season. We’ve got a duck season, a deer season, but we don’t have a flu season.”
She added, “And don’t receive it when somebody threatens you with, ‘Everybody is getting the flu.’ We’ve already had our shot. He bore our sicknesses and carried our diseases. That’s what we stand on.”
The United States has been battling a devastating flu outbreak since October. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 14,676 people have been admitted to hospitals since the flu season started in October – double the number from 2016, and the highest ever recorded.
At least 53 children have died from the flu, including 16 last week, the CDC said.
Copeland, a co-founder the Fort Worth, Texas-based Kenneth Copeland Ministries, proceeded to pray for everyone who was displaying flu symptoms, saying that they could protect themselves by declaring, “I’ll never have the flu.”
She also said, “That’s great — that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Just keep saying that ‘I’ll never have the flu. I’ll never have the flu.’ Inoculate yourself with the word of God. Flu, I bind you off the people in the name of Jesus. Jesus himself gave us the flu shot. He redeemed us from the curse of flu.”
As of Wednesday morning, the video had clocked 8,000 reactions and over 4,000 shared on Facebook alone.
