Alex Jones, who runs the popular conspiracy theory website InfoWars, said in a video published Friday that President-elect Donald Trump had called him to thank his viewers for their support.
“I told him, ‘Mr. President-elect, you’re too busy, we don’t need to talk,’” Jones said he told Trump when the call, which he said “lasted over five minutes,” began.
“Listen Alex,” Jones recalled Trump telling him. “I just talked to the kings and queens of the world, world leaders, you name it. But it doesn’t matter, I wanted to talk to you, to thank your audience, and I’ll be on the next few weeks to thank them.”
Jones said Trump told him he wanted “to thank your viewers, thank your listeners for standing up for this republic. We know what you did early on and throughout this campaign, standing up for what’s right.”
“It shows he’s not the average elitist,” Jones said of Trump’s call.
InfoWars has popularized conspiracy theories including that the Clintons regularly murder political adversaries and that many mass shootings are “false flag” events meant to spur gun confiscations. Jones also was one of the early driving forces behind the 9/11 truther movement.
Jones interviewed Trump for 30 minutes last December via web chat. Trump told him at the time: “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”
Welsh journalist Jon Ronson, who has covered Jones for nearly two decades, has said that Jones’ rhetoric about the Clintons and globalism has slipped into the Republican mainstream following Trump’s rise. Phrases like “Hillary for Prison” and “Bill Clinton is a rapist,” both of which were heard frequently at both Clinton and Trump’s rallies, originated on Jones’ show.
