STAT As I stepped into line to pick up my badge for the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) conference last weekend in Austin, Texas, a gregarious man approached holding two tall plastic tubes he said contained “clots” from Covid vaccinated bodies. After 36 years in the Air Force, he told me, he’d been pushed out for refusing the shot. Now in retirement, he calls funeral homes and surveys undertakers to document alleged vaccine harms.
Over the next two days, I heard versions of the same arc again and again: loss reframed as mission, grievance redirected into organizing. I came to CHD out of curiosity — to hear how this movement wins people over, and why its message resonates so deeply. Over two days, I spoke with dozens of attendees between sessions and as a guest on the podcast “Why Should I Trust You?” I didn’t change any minds, nor did my convictions waver. But every conversation was honest and respectful.