Anti-Vaccine Christian Broadcaster Marcus Lamb Dies of Covid-19

Marcus Lamb, the co-founder of Evangelical Christian broadcasting network Daystar Television, passed away from Covid-19 at the age of 64 on Tuesday.

In a tweet, Daystar mourned the loss of its founder, writing:

“It’s with a heavy heart we announce that Marcus Lamb, president and founder of Daystar Television Network, went home to be with the Lord this morning…The family asks that their privacy be respected as they grieve this difficult loss. Please continue to lift them up in prayer.”

Lamb’s wife Joni later confirmed that her husband, who was also diabetic, passed away from Covid-19 after being hospitalized with a severe case of the virus. His oxygen dropped to extremely low levels and treatments for the condition were not effective.

Marcus Lamb dies of Covid-19 after show slams vaccine

Lamb had previously railed against vaccines, and called use implementation of vaccine mandates a “sin” against God. Daystar frequently hosted anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown activists and reiterated talking points on their network.

On the network’s website, vaccines had been labeled as the “most dangerous thing” children are up against now.

Vaccines are highly safe and effective in reducing the risk of becoming infected with Covid-19, and they are shown to nearly eliminate the risk of going to the hospital or dying from the virus.

Viewers began to worry about the televangelist’s health after his son Jonathan Lamb took over his father’s spot on a show on November 23.

Jonathan suggested that his father’s battle with the illness was some part of a larger spiritual war, saying:

“As much as my parents have gone on here to kind of inform everyone about everything going on to the pandemic and some of the ways to treat COVID — there’s no doubt that the enemy is not happy about that. And he’s doing everything he can to take down my dad.”

While on the air, he talked with his mother Joni, who begged viewers to “Pray specifically for his lungs to clear the Covid pneumonia and pray for his oxygen level to continue to be strong and to go up so that we can wean him off of oxygen and bring him home.”

She then expressed the volatility of the Covid-19 infection, saying “you’ll just be up and everything’s great, and then you have a little lull, and then you come down low and then you come back up, but from everybody that I talk to — I think that’s the pattern,” she stated.

Before contracting Covid-19, Lamb hosted activists from right-wing political group “America’s Frontline Doctors,” an organization which has promoted misinformation about the Covid-19 itself and the vaccines developed to fight it.

Daystar Television has hosted anti-vaccine misinformation

The group was one of the major forces in the trend of using Ivermectin, an antiparasitic medication usually used for animals such as horses.

While approved by the FDA for use in humans for parasites, worms, and certain skin conditions like rosacea, it has been found to be ineffective and even dangerous when used to treat Covid-19 by patients at home.

Lamb himself began taking the drug earlier this year supposedly to “prevent” Covid-19.

Daystar has also had Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on their show. Known now as an anti-vaccine activist, his misinformation has gotten him banned from multiple social media platforms.

Lamb founded Daystar in the 1990s after finding success with his Word of God Fellowship, which he created a decade earlier. The Daystar Television Network, which has become the second-largest Christian network in the entire world, reaches over two billion people internationally.

Lamb is not the first TV or radio host to die of the virus after previously disavowing the vaccine. Marc Bernier, a radio talk show host who called himself “Mr. Anti-Vax,” also died from the virus.

So did radio hosts Phil Valentine and Dick Farrel, along with preachers Jimmy DeYoung and Bob Enyart. All had previously expressed anti-vaccine sentiments.