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Conspiracy theorists responded with conspiracy theories to the news last week that The Onion had obtained Alex Jones’ InfoWars.
The satirical news site purchased the conspiratorial brand after winning a court-ordered auction stemming from the defamation lawsuit against Jones by the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.
In comments across the internet, supporters of InfoWars reacted, unsurprisingly, with conspiracy theories.
InfoWars supporters question The Onion’s purchase of the site
Over on the far-right blog The Gateway Pundit, one commenter argued that The Onion was secretly a front company for left-wing philanthropist George Soros. In other words, it was a Jew who secretly brought down Jones and his ilk.
Others likewise questioned how the Onion and its parent company had so much cash on hand, despite the fact that no one knows how much the outlet was purchased for.
“The purpose is to shut down InfoWars, not make any money off it,” another commenter said.
Over on the alternative social media website Gab, users continued to push the disgusting claim that the Sandy Hook shooting never took place.
“The Connecticut scumbags have RETRIBUTION/JUSTICE COMING…..” one user ominously said. “I think the SANDY HOOK shooting should be INVESTIGATED HEAVILY BY OUR NEW DOJ. Alex Jones was framed in an ILLEGITIMATE kangaroo court, just like TRUMP.”
Conspiracy theorists blame the Democrats for InfoWars shutdown
President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama were also blamed for Jones losing his brand.
“Lawfare….plain and simple,” another Truth Social user wrote. “I can take or leave Alex Jones, but he was a victim of Biden/Obama weaponization of federal law enforcement.”
In reality, Jones has no one to blame but himself. Decades of pushing false claims finally caught up with him. Granted, the $1.5 billion owed in the lawsuit is a staggering and unprecedented amount. But the blame still lies with him and those who defamed countless people.
As far as the future, InfoWars isn’t exactly dead. The Onion plans to re-launch it in the coming year in a parody of itself. And Jones has already launched a new website for streaming.
Regardless, the end of InfoWars, arguably the biggest purveyor of conspiracy theories in modern history, signals the end of an era. Although, now that Jones’ ideas are mainstream, this could just be the beginning.
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