Alex Jones has claimed his website, Infowars, was offered credentials by the White House.
“I know I get White House credentials, we’ve already been offered them, we’re going to get them, but I’ve just got to spend the money to send somebody there,” Jones said in a video. “I want to make sure it’s even worth it. I don’t want to just sit there up there like ‘I’m in the media, look our people are there.'”
However, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders denied that they ever gave credentials to Infowars.
“He is not credentialed for the White House,” Sanders told Buzzfeed. “The White House Press Office has not offered him credentials.”
Regardless of whether Infowars has been credentialed or not, here are seven things you need to know about the site.
1. Jones, the owner of Infowars, has subscribed to some insane conspiracy theories. These include:
- The 9/11 terrorist attack was an inside job conducted by the United States government.
- The Islamic terror attacks in the Boston, Orlando, Brussels as well as the Sandy Hook shooting were all “false flags.”
- People are putting chemicals in water that are causing frogs to turn gay.
- Vaccines cause autism.
- The government has a “weather weapon” to cause tornadoes.
- Obamacare is the result of the “Jewish mafia.”
That last one isn’t just a conspiracy theory, it’s blatantly anti-Semitic.
2. Jones doesn’t just say insane things; he actually acts insane on the air. The Daily Wire‘s Amanda Prestigiacomo explained of one particular instance in which Jones pretended to act like a leftist:
“I’m feeling powerful right now,” says Jones, unbuttoning his shirt. “You are going to submit to us; our town of liberalism is here! You drink that fluoride,” he groans.
“You take those vaccines! Donald Trump says vaccines might be dangerous,” he yells, throwing his shirt to the ground, “because one of his kids got hurt.”
Then full meltdown-mode kicks in: “Shut up! You don’t have free speech, you understand!” he yells. “You listen to me, we rule this country now. I’m liberal! Screw him! Ban his free speech right now, ban it!”
Jones then calmly plugs his vitamin, suggesting listeners visit his website.
She also linked to a video compiling some other insane moments from Jones:
Daily Wire editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro has a spot-on impression of Jones:
3. Naturally, Infowars has stories that reflect Jones’s nuttiness. Here are some headlines tagged under “Infowars Exclusives”:
- “Emergency! Trump Must Go On Offensive To Stop Democrat Plan For Martial Law.”
- “The Machine Takeover Revealed.”
- “Leaked! Democrats Have Taken Over Fox News.”
- “Russian Officials: ‘Highly Likely’ Ambassador Assassination A NATO False Flag.”
Infowars also has featured clips from Jones’s radio show, such as:
- “Trump Coup Maximum Moment of Crisis.”
- “Richest People In The World Focus On Taking Out Trump.”
- “Confirmed: CIA Plans To Stop Trump Inauguration.”
- “The Inventor Of Email On How The Military-Industrial Complex Tried To Steal His Invention.”
4. Infowars even has their own store of supplements and survival material. Among the things they sell include supplements called ProstaGuard and Super Male Vitality as well as a citizen armor vest and a year’s worth of food.
5. Matt Drudge has helped elevate Infowars. Drudge seems to be tight with Jones, as his most recent media appearance was on The Alex Jones Show in October 2015 and Drudge gave the same type of bizarre, wacky conspiracy theories that one would expect to hear from Jones.
Radio host Glenn Beck said back in March, “I don’t know what the hell has happened to Matt Drudge, but it happened a few years ago, when he started hanging out with Alex Jones. And now he is in this weird conspiratorial Alex Jones kind of place, and now he has taken and started to Photoshop pictures.”
Based on Drudge’s interview with Jones and the Drudge Report‘s penchant for linking to Infowars, Beck seems to be right.
6. Trump has paid lip service to Jones. Trump appeared on Jones’s show in December 2015 and said to him, “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”
Jones has also claimed that Trump gave him a call after the election to thank him.
Trump may not subscribe to all of Jones’s wacky theories, but his anti-globalist mantra and promulgating the false notions that vaccines lead to autism are Jones-esque.
Jones once remarked, “It is surreal to talk about issues here on air, and then, word-for-word, hear Trump say it two days later.”
7. Infowars has more of a reach than people realize. The website has 7.5 million unique readers per month, which isn’t far behind Salon’s number of 9 million.
Perpetuating conspiracy theories sells, especially in a society where truth is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Follow Aaron Bandler on Twitter @bandlersbanter.