Anti-vaccine Christian broadcaster dies at 64 after contracting covid

The network had asked viewers to pray for the recovery of its boss

The boss of a Christian television network that vocally opposed covid-19 vaccines has died just weeks after catching the virus.

Marcus Lamb was the co-founder and CEO of the conservative Christian Daystar Television Network, a channel which vocally opposed covid-19 vaccines.

He was just 64 when he passed away.

In a tweet, the network wrote: "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."

https://twitter.com/Daystar/status/1465728235996598275?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1465728235996598275%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fiframe.nbcnews.com%2FRIOFPBW%3F_showcaption%3Dtrueapp%3D1 According to NBC, Lamb's son Jonathan filled in for his father on the network's November 23 broadcast, asking listeners to pray for his father. Lamb's wife, Joni, spoke from his hospital bedside via telephone, saying: "We can really feel the prayers of the people.

"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."

Jonathan described the illness as a "spiritual attack from the enemy" to "take down" his father. "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," Lamb said. The family's network has devoted hours of airtime to anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown views, activists and groups.

In July 2020, the Lamb family devoted an hour of their broadcast to "censorship" around the covid pandemic, featuring the misinformation group America's Frontline Doctors.

In May, Daystar broadcast an hourlong program with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - the nephew of former US president John F. Kennedy - whose famous family denounced his anti-vaccination views in May 2019.

Related links:

• Bride considering putting unvaccinated guests on ‘anti-vax’ table at wedding
• Māori tribe tells anti-vaxxers to stop using the haka in their protests
• Vegan who refused Covid jab because it was tested on animals dies of virus