Far-right commentator Alex Jones and his fans are celebrating after a federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday blocked the sale of his website, InfoWars, to the satirical outlet the Onion.
The judge’s decision was met with enthusiasm from both Jones and his supporters, who were quick to make celebratory posts and digs at the Onion and proponents of the sale.
“Just Alex Jones and me in the Infowars trenches celebrating a victory in battle,” wrote one right-wing media presenter, who shared photos of Jones and him embracing and reveling in the legal win.
“INFOWARS LIVES,” captioned someone else of a visibly joyful Jones.
The victory for Jones and his outlet followed lengthy bankruptcy proceedings that came in the wake of him being hit with a more than $1 billion defamation judgment for his false comments over the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Jones alleged the attack, in which 20 children and six adults were killed, was a hoax.
The initial purchase by the Onion, which intended to turn InfoWars into a parody of itself, was backed by families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting.
The U.S. trustee handling the auction publicly acknowledged that the Onion had not placed the highest bid, but had accepted it as the winner as he believed it presented a better deal overall, given that several Sandy Hook families agreed “to forgo a portion of the sale proceeds to pay Jones’ other creditors.”
But that fact—plus the lack of bidding rounds—prompted Jones to challenge the sale as a “HOAX” and illegitimate.
Aside from the Onion, the only other bidder in the original closed auction was First United American Companies, a supplement selling site affiliated with Jones, which bid $3.5 million—double the Onion’s bid of $1.75 million in cash and other incentives.
Judge Christopher Lopez argued the original sale did not give Sandy Hook families the best outcome, arguing that “you got to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them.”
Ben Collins, the CEO of the Onion, released a statement on Wednesday calling the decision disappointing and pledging to “continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured.”
“We will also continue to seek a path towards purchasing InfoWars in the coming weeks,” Collins said. “It is part of our larger mission to make a better, funnier internet, regardless of the outcome of this case.”
But while InfoWars’ fate remains in limbo, its fans could not be happier.
“Remember how the Onion said buying Infowars would be the funniest thing ever? this is waaaaay funnier than that,” swiped one person.
“This is the funniest thing the Onion has produced in years,” echoed someone else of the blocked auction.
“Globalists are eternal losers. Infowars lives on,” jabbed another account.
Another supporter made a suggestion that Jones most certainly lacks the funds to do, but his fans are eating up the idea regardless: “Alex Jones should buy The Onion.”
“That would be the greatest ending to all this drama,” replied one person.
Jones, for his part, on Wednesday thanked the fans who stood by as InfoWars “weathered the total deep state assault in the last nine years.”
And in a separate post, Jones revealed one person he’d back buying his site: Elon Musk.
Agreed one fan: “Dear Elon, we really need you to buy another company for the team. Keep Infowars Awesome.”
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