[3][4] In May 2020, Shirkey appeared onstage at an American Patriot Council rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan with William Null and Adam Fox.

[10][11] In April 2020, Shirkey's business, Orbitform, received $1.8 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

During this time, Shirkey led the Michigan Senate to block allocation of $4 billion in federal COVID reliefs funds for food and rental assistance.

[13] In February 2021, Shirkey alleged that the storming of the U.S. Capitol was a "hoax", that it was "staged", and that supporters of Donald Trump did not carry it out.

[14][15] In a February interview with radio station WKHM, Shirkey alleged that dead people voted in Michigan in the 2020 elections, a claim that has been denied by others.

During the meeting in Grand Rapids, Shirkey told the militias, "We need you now more than ever to continue to train" and "to stand up and test that assertion of authority by government".

According to the Anti-Defamation League, adherents of the "Great Reset" conspiracy theory "warn that 'global elites' will use the pandemic to advance their interests and push forward a globalist plot to destroy American sovereignty and prosperity.