Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones heckled Sen. Marco Rubio during a press gaggle outside a Capitol Hill social media hearing today, where things got heated and Jones told him to, “Go back to your bathhouse.”

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Rubio was discussing foreign influence on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, while Jones stood on the sideline and demanded he talk about the so-called “shadow banning” of conservatives on those sites. There is no proof of such practices, although President Trump, who once told Jones he hoped to do him proud, has been pushing the conspiracy nonetheless.

The senator attempted to ignore Jones, telling him he didn’t know who he was and calling him a “dumbass.”

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Jones laughed off the idea that Rubio was unfamiliar with him, and with Infowars, the site he heads up, and called Rubio “little frat boy,” and “a gangster thug.” At one point, he patted Rubio on the shoulder condescendingly, further escalating the tension.

“Don’t touch me again, man,” Rubio told Jones, as security pushed Jones’ hand away. Jones then suggested the lawmaker wanted to get him arrested, whining, “It’s not enough to take away my First Amendment.” (While literally engaging in his right to free speech, ironically.)

“You’re not gonna get arrested,” Rubio told him. “I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Oh, he’ll beat me up!” Jones said.

“I didn’t say that, dude,” Rubio answered back.

As Rubio walked away to return to the hearing, telling reporters they could “talk to this clown,” Jones, who has a history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric (and who totally doesn’t watch transgender porn on the sly), told him to, “Go back to your bathhouse.”

“Compromise at the bathhouses,” he added.





Rubio, who is married to a woman with whom he has four children, has been the subject of gay rumors in the past. Like much of what Jones pushes, those rumors have never been substantiated with any legitimate evidence.

Jones and Infowars were recently kicked off, or had material removed from, multiple tech platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, and Spotify, for spreading false information and contributing to the ongoing suffering of the parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre. Jones is being sued by three of those parents for defamation, as he has continued to claim it was a “false flag” event.

Shortly after the encounter, Jones did a Rubio impression, showing why he should absolutely be taken seriously by elected officials when he harasses them during press events.

Alex Jones moments after his little verbal altercation with @marcorubio pic.twitter.com/ft6FI43yhb — Jesse Seidman (@jmseidman) September 5, 2018