Alex Jones’ Kills Credibility of Anti-Shutdown Protests

Jones, Trump are Masters in the Art of BS

Alex Jones, owner of the InfoWars radio show and website. (Sean P. Anderson)

I’ve often said that a certain segment of this country is lost. They believe whatever comes out of President Donald Trump’s mouth, they’ve been brainwashed by FOX News and other right-wing media, and refuse to acknowledge scientific facts.

This was evident in the carefully orchestrated mass protests against the coronavirus shutdown. Judging by some of the signs and comments at these rallies, many of these protestors aren’t big on logic or reasoning.

A protestor at a rally in Huntington Beach, Calif. held up a sign saying, “Social distancing is communism,” proving the person who wrote it knows nothing about politics. White House advisor Stephen Moore even compared the gun-toting protestors to civil rights legend Rosa Parks, who managed to stage her protests without carrying a sidearm.

Anti-shutdown protests erupt across the U.S

There were several troubling aspects about these protests. They were promoted by FOX News, sponsored by a Betsy DeVos’-funded group and, worst of all, a protest in Austin featured Alex Jones, who the Southern Poverty Law Center described as “America’s most prolific conspiracy theorist.”

Jones’ presence just destroyed the protests’ last shred of credibility. Jones is probably the least reputable person in America. Having him associated with any project automatically discredits the event.

A Long-time Conman

Jones has been running his conspiracy con for more than 20 years. He’s really an entertainer who uses ridiculous conspiracy theories to drive up his ratings and sell dubious products. His business model is to tell you it’s raining, and then sell you an umbrella.

After convincing his gullible audience that World War III is going to break out tomorrow, he makes his money by selling rubes supplies that will help them make it through the coming disaster. And it’s a profitable racket. Jones pulled in $20 million in one year, according to a 2018 New York Times article.

He’s also a long-time 9/11 truther. He’s long advocated that the George W. Bush administration played a role in the attack and even funded a faux documentary called “Loose Change,” that pushed this theory. I must admit that the movie had me going until I learned it was funded by Jones. The director of the movie later disavowed it.

Jones is a BS artist, a modern-day snake oil salesman, and he knows it. He’s doing entertainment, but millions of people still take him seriously. I was horrified when I watched a VICE news report and a Trump supporter said, “I get all my news from InfoWars.” That’s like saying you get all your meals from the dumpster behind McDonald’s!

He also pushed the absurd conspiracy theory that the Sandy Hook school shooting was faked by the government to push gun control legislation. He even claimed several of the parents of the Sandy Hook victims were “crisis actors” and their children weren’t real. Jones also claimed the children were really alive and being held in a penal colony on Mars. NASA eventually had to deny this.

In March, Jones got hit with a cease and desist letter from New York Attorney General Letitia James after hawking a variety of products that claimed they could cure the coronavirus.

Weaponizing Ignorance

However, Jones’ misinformation operation is dangerous because it has the ability to weaponize ignorance. The 2016 attack on the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C. was conducted by Edgar Maddison Welch. He was an InfoWars listener who believed he was rescuing children from a Satanic cult.

Also, Jones’ lies about Sandy Hook families led to a harassment campaign from InfoWars loons, who were convinced the grieving parents were part of a grand conspiracy. After a lengthy legal battle, Jones was forced to acknowledge the deaths were real and eventually fined $100,000. Jones has also recently been removed from major platforms such as YouTube, a notorious hotbed of online garbage, Facebook and Twitter.

Jones is a BS artist, a modern-day snake oil salesman, and he knows it. He’s doing entertainment, but millions of people still take him seriously. I was horrified when I watched a VICE news report and a Trump supporter said, “I get all my news from InfoWars.” That’s like saying you get all your meals from the dumpster behind McDonald’s!

InfoWars is even beneath FOX News because while FOX is right-wing propaganda, it at least tries to stay in the realm of possibility. InfoWars doesn’t, because it’s not news, its pure entertainment. A 2016 US News and World Report article listed InfoWars as a “fake news site.”

In a normal world, Jones would be ostracized and declared persona non grata by the media. But we live in bizarro world, and Jones has been praised by Trump. He declared Jones had “a great reputation” when he appeared on InfoWars.

Con Men of a Feather

Jones and Trump are birds of a feather. They’re both cynical showmen obsessed with ratings and willing to push the most outlandish lies.

“He (Jones) found in Mr. Trump a kindred anti-intellectual with an outsider’s perspective and a willingness to entertain conspiracy theories and disseminate fact-challenged assertions,” said The New York Times.

But Jones and Trump’s views are welcome in the GOP. Several news reports have shown Republicans are prone to dismiss facts and believe conspiracy theories. Months of FOX News lies convinced millions of Americans the coronavirus was a “hoax.” However, the pair’s success shows there’s an appetite for BS artists and con men among Republicans.

Chad Cooper, owner of a body armor company and InfoWars advertiser, made this telling comment about Jones’ success. Most of Coopers’ customers listen to InfoWars.

“He’s really good at scaring people,” said Cooper in a New York Times article. “He gives them that sense of urgency — they need to hurry up and do something. Now.”