Alex Jones
Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right,[10] alt-right[11] radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist.[a][25] He hosts The Alex Jones Show from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcasts[26] across the United States via syndicated and internet radio.[27] Jones's website, InfoWars, promotes conspiracy theories and fake news,[28][29][30] as do his other websites, NewsWars and PrisonPlanet. Jones has provided a platform and support for white nationalists, giving Unite the Right rally attendee and white supremacist Nick Fuentes a platform on his website, Banned.Video, as well as giving an "entry point" to their ideology.[31][32][33][34] In 2023, leaked texts from Jones's phone revealed that he created the website National File.[35][36]
This article is about the radio show host. For other people with the same name, see Alex Jones (disambiguation).
Alex Jones
Radio host
- InfoWars
- The Alex Jones Show
- Conspiracy theories
- Sandy Hook shooting litigation
-
Kelly Jones(m. 2007; div. 2015)
-
Erika Wulff(m. 2017)
4
The conspiracy theories that Jones has promoted allege that the United States government either concealed information about or outright falsified the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the September 11 attacks, and the 1969 Moon landing.[37] He has also claimed that several governments and large businesses have colluded to create a "New World Order" through "manufactured economic crises, sophisticated surveillance tech and—above all—inside-job terror attacks that fuel exploitable hysteria".[38]
A longtime critic of Republican and Democratic foreign and security policy, Jones supported Donald Trump's 2016 presidential bid and continued to support him as a savior from an alleged criminal bipartisan cabal controlling the federal government, despite falling out over several of Trump's policies including airstrikes against the Assad regime.[39][40][41] A staunch supporter of Trump's re-election, Jones also supported the false claims of electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election. On January 6, 2021, Jones was a speaker at the rally in Lafayette Square Park supporting Trump preceding the latter's supporters' attack on the US Capitol.[42]
In 2022, for Jones's defamatory falsehoods about the Sandy Hook shooting, juries in Connecticut and Texas awarded a total of $1.487 billion in damages from Jones to a first responder and families of victims; the plaintiffs alleged that Jones's lies led to them being threatened and harassed for years.[43][44][45] On December 2, 2022, Jones filed for personal bankruptcy.[46]
Connections to Donald Trump
2016 presidential campaign
On December 2, 2015, Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate, appeared on The Alex Jones Show, with Trump stating to Jones at the end: "your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down. You'll be very, very impressed, I hope."[203] During the broadcast, Jones compared Trump to George Washington and said 90% of his listeners supported his candidacy. Jones and Trump both said the appearance was arranged by Roger Stone, who made multiple appearances on Jones' program during the 2016 presidential campaign. Ron and Rand Paul were the only other significant politicians to appear on Jones' show in the preceding few years.[204][205][177] Jones indicated his support for Trump during the presidential campaign.[206]
During his 2016 presidential campaign, via his Twitter account, Trump linked to InfoWars articles as sources for his claim "thousands and thousands" of Muslims celebrated 9/11 and the false assertion California was not suffering from a drought.[207] A few days before one of Trump's August 2016 rallies, InfoWars published a video claiming Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had mental health issues, which Trump recycled in his campaign speech at the rally, according to Mother Jones.[177] Trump's claim the 2016 vote would be rigged, The Independent reported, followed a Jones video making the same claim two days earlier.[208] In one of her own speeches and video ads, Clinton criticized Trump for his ties to Jones.[209][14][210]
Jones ran a campaign attacking former president Bill Clinton as a rapist. He designed a T-shirt, ran another "get on MSM" competition[211] and gate-crashed The Young Turks set at the RNC, while displaying the T-shirt, resulting in a physical altercation with Cenk Uygur.[212] Jones said Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were demons because they both smelt of sulfur, a claim supposedly based on assertions from people in contact with them.[213] In late 2015, InfoWars began selling T-shirts with the slogan "Hillary for Prison".[214]
According to Jones, Trump called him on the day after the election to thank him for his help in the campaign.[215]
Trump as president
In April 2018, Jones publicly criticized President Trump during a livestream, after Trump announced a military strike against Syria. During the stream, Jones also stated that Trump had not called him during the prior six months.[216] A leaked interview of Jones in January 2019 expressing displeasure over his relationship with Trump was released by the Southern Poverty Law Center in March 2021, with Jones stating "I wish I never would have fucking met Trump ... I'm so sick of fucking Donald Trump, man. God, I'm fucking sick of him."[217][218]
Jones supported Trump during his re-election campaign in 2020 and called on demonstrations to be held on the premise the election had been "rigged" against Trump.[219]
After Trump recommended at an August 2021 rally that people choose to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Jones said that Trump was either lying or "not that bright" and "a dumbass".[220]
Numerous current and former Trump advisers have appeared on Jones's show, including Counselor to the President Steve Bannon,[221] Senior Advisor to the President Stephen Miller,[222] National Security Advisor Michael Flynn,[223] and senior Trump campaign advisers Jason Miller[224] and Roger Stone.[225]
Litigation
Pizzagate conspiracy theory
In February 2017, James Alefantis, owner of Comet Ping Pong pizzeria, sent Jones a letter demanding an apology and retraction of his advocacy for the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. Jones was given one month to comply or be subject to a libel suit.[244] In March 2017, Jones apologized to Alefantis and retracted his allegations.[245]
Chobani yogurt company
In April 2017, the Chobani yogurt company filed suit against Jones for his claims that their factory in Idaho employing refugees was connected to a 2016 child sexual assault and a rise in tuberculosis.[246] As a result, Jones issued an apology and retraction of his allegations in May 2017.[247] However, while being deposed in the Texas defamation lawsuit filed by Sandy Hook parents, Jones reiterated many of his previous allegations against Chobani and its founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, indicating that he continues to espouse the false claims.[248]
Charlottesville car attack
In March 2018, Brennan Gilmore, who shared a video he captured of a car hitting counter-protesters at the 2017 Unite the Right rally, filed a lawsuit against Jones and six others.[249] According to the lawsuit, Jones said that Gilmore was acting as part of a false flag operation conducted by disgruntled government "deep state" employees promoting a coup against Trump.[250] Gilmore alleged he received death threats from Jones's audience.[250] In March 2022, Gilmore secured an admission of liability from Jones.[251][252]
Personal life
Jones has three children with his former wife Kelly Jones (née Nichols).[326] The couple divorced in March 2015.[327] In 2017, Kelly sought sole or joint custody of their children due to her ex-husband's lurid behavior. She claimed "he's not a stable person" and "I'm concerned that he is engaged in felonious behavior, threatening a member of Congress" (Adam Schiff). His attorney responded by claiming that "he's playing a character" and describing him as a "performance artist".[328][329] On his show, Jones denied playing a character and he called his show "the most bona fide, hard-core, real McCoy thing there is, and everybody knows it";[330][331] whereas in court, Jones clarified that he generally agreed with his attorney's statement, but that he disagreed with the media's interpretation of the term "performance artist".[332] Kelly was awarded the right to decide where their children live while he maintains visitation rights.[333] In April 2020, a state district judge denied an emergency motion by Kelly to secure custody of their daughters for the next two weeks after Jones led a rally at the Capitol, where he was mobbed by supporters and called COVID-19 a hoax.[334] In 2023, after a 2008 audioclip of Jones berating his then wife was obtained by the Daily Mail, Kelly claimed that Jones was "a total racist" regarding her Jewish heritage, claiming that her genes were "flawed."[335]
His son, Rex Jones, has worked for InfoWars.[336] His father, David Jones, is involved in InfoWars's business and previously handled human resources tasks for his son, according to his testimony in a deposition.[50]
Jones married Erika Wulff in 2017; they have one child.[337] In February 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported on text messages that appeared to corroborate a September 2022 Rolling Stone story[338] reporting that Jones may have spied on Wulff in 2019. In the texts reviewed by the SPLC, Jones told his security employee to monitor Wulff, expressing concern that she was cheating on him.[50]