Poor man. His empire of lies is falling down around his ears. He can’t even sell his hokey ‘supplements’ (he was making $20 million a year off that nonsense!) because he’s finally been banned from all the social media sites he needed to peddle snake oil. His lies have been killing people, though, so my sympathy is non-existent.
Jones, who tells his viewers that his wild claims are based on “deep research” and high-level government sources, admitted that he actually relies on anonymous internet message boards and random emailers. Unable to justify his past conduct, an uncharacteristically subdued Jones blamed “psychosis.”
The deposition, filmed March 14 and published online last Friday, was released as part of a lawsuit filed by Scarlett Lewis, the mother of a child murdered in the Sandy Hook massacre. Lewis, one of several parents currently suing Jones, says that she has been a target of harassment as the result of Jones’ repeated claim that Sandy Hook was a “hoax” and no children died.
Jones accused grieving parents of being paid actors complicit in a far-reaching government conspiracy — and many people believed him. Throughout the deposition, Jones expressed little remorse.
Last week another Sandy Hook parent who faced harassment, Jeremy Richman, died in an apparent suicide.
How can one lone crank like Jones have so much impact on people? The answer is…he had enablers and promoters. There were people who were happy to have a representative of the lunatic fringe to push to the forefront, to take all the blame, while they made sure their audiences were exposed to the toxic garbage. The article names names. These are the people behind Alex Jones, who profited from the conspiracy nut and used him to advance their agenda.
Donald Trump.
In December 2015, as Jones was smearing the Sandy Hook families, Trump appeared on Jones’ Infowars show. Already a leading candidate for the Republican nomination, Trump lavished Jones with praise.
“[Y]our reputation’s amazing – I will not let you down – you will be very very impressed. I hope and I think we’ll be speaking a lot,” Trump said.
The Drudge Report. I’d almost forgotten that slimy rag existed, but I guess it has a large audience among the wrong sorts of people.
Trump gave Alex Jones the patina of legitimacy. But Matt Drudge delivered Jones something even more critical: website traffic.
One thing you learn from reading Alex Jones’ deposition is that he claims nearly every major tragedy is a hoax or government conspiracy. At one point Jones admits in rapid succession that 9/11, Columbine, and Oklahoma City were all “false flags.”
Nevertheless, Matt Drudge repeatedly links to Infowars on his popular news aggregator, the Drudge Report. Drudge’s site, which is one of the most popular in the United States, features two permanent links to InfoWars. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, Drudge links to specific Infowars stories regularly.
Tucker Carlson.
Tucker Carlson remains one of Fox News’ most popular hosts, drawing millions of viewers each night. When PayPal recently severed its relationship with Alex Jones, Carlson came to his defense.
Carlson said in February that Jones’ ban was part of an effort to undermine the First Amendment by making “it impossible for people who say the wrong things to make a living in this country.” Carlson said that PayPal wanted “utter conformity, a world where only approved opinions are allowed.”
You know, if Alex Jones is to be held accountable for his destructive misinformation, those guys have to be up against the wall next.
Isn’t it YOUR side of the political spectrum that claims there is a “Marketplace of Ideas” where good ideas are promoted and bad ones are condemned, Tucker?
Akira MacKenzie @1: But, but, that would be implying that Carlson and Jones have bad ideas. And that can’t possibly be right because they thought them up and their ideas trigger libs! How can their ideas possibly be bad if they trigger libs? Surely you’re not suggesting that libs represent part of the market and pissing them off could therefore lead to consequences!
When people play roles long enough, they merge with those roles, and he’s been playing a psychotic for a long, long time.
I have a friend who is irritated as heck that the American Religious Right has grabbed the label “evangelical”. He points to President Carter as an evangelical who actually shows values that the Bible shows Jesus Christ to have. (Pat Robertson’s values are as far away from those as it is possible to be).
Right wing religions are all about themselves. (As are right-wing governments). They use and abuse whatever authority they can find to justify excluding others and worse.
I don’t care what they believe, as long as they are good. Good to all people now, good to the whole planet now, and especially good to the whole future.
Imagine my confusion when I saw this headline: Alex Jones hosted show after miscarriage – follow the link for the story. I hadn’t heard of this other Alex Jones – perhaps we might call her the real Alex Jones, since the one in court is fake all the way through – until now. I am sure all Pharangulites (are we still a horde?) will join me in wishing her well and extending our sympathies that she finds herself sharing a name with such a vile individual.
Yeah, my parents, visiting Texas from the UK, were reading The Guardian website yesterday when one of them mentioned that headline, much to my initial confusion.
Mind you, if America’s Alex Jones is right about all those hormones in our food, medication, and vaccines, his getting pregnant would be an excellent way for him to get taken seriously at last!
he sounds just like a condemned murder as he is being taken up to the gibbet
those who favor the market place of ideas most strongly are not in the least bothered by protectionism when they control it.
uncle frogy
Crikey, if he was making $20 million a fucking year, why wouldn’t he simply kick back on a beach somewhere for the rest of his useless life? Couple of years of earnings is far more than one would need to live very comfortably for several lifetimes.
Because a bizarre as it seems, he believes in what he’s doing. There’s also the power and influence that many find intoxicating — it’s hard to give that up for some people (not I though!).
I find it odd that Jones didn’t have his enablers and supporters attached via hate crime, terrorism charges and RICO, as all are guilty under those charges.
Something already audited and reported upon. I blundered across that information, while checking intelligence briefings of importance to my occupational life.
Not, that I’m confirming, nor denying the existence of the sun or something.*
*Hint, wasn’t probing him, it was cross traffic of adversaries and not allowed to be used in a case against him.
I can’t say that there are multiple foreign contacts in his direct contacts and conversations, but I shan’t say there aren’t or that anyone was looking.
I am glad he’s suffering. Does that make me a bad person? I’m okay with it if so. His personal actions have caused direct harm, and his body of work has contributed significantly to the political/media/cultural clusterfuck we find ourselves in. Fuck him, fuck anyone like him, and fuck who ever contributed to his rise and that of fuckers like him.
@8 He’s also gone through a messy divorce and has become accustomed to a $2 million/year lifestyle. I doubt he’s ever put anything away for a rainy day, because he obviously never believed that such a thing would exist for him.
Hank_Says,
Not at all. I’m happy to hear of it as well.
How long do we put up with this? When do we stoop to their level and start burning them alive? At this point the country’s slide into chaos is so utterly assured that I may actually live to see that sort of thing happen. I almost wish there were a Hell sometimes just so I’d know people like him would fucking fry.