Two weeks ago, Infowars founder Alex Jones lost yet another defamation suit brought by the families of victims massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School — a shooting rampage that Jones spuriously claimed was a “hoax” and a “false flag” exercise, allegations that the families said compounded their personal tragedies.
On Wednesday night, the most prominent conservative pundit in the country hailed Jones as “one of the most popular journalists on the right” and often a more reputable journalist than mainstream media figures who reported on the Russia investigation.
“Yes, journalist,” Tucker Carlson said after using that term to describe Jones. “Jones is often mocked for his flamboyance, but the truth is, he has been a far better guide to reality in recent years — in other words a far better journalist — than, say, NBC News national security correspondent Ken Dilanian or Margaret Brennan of CBS.”
It’s difficult to imagine a more ridiculous statement. It’s also difficult to imagine a better microcosm of the American right’s descent into its current post-truth era than this.
Carlson, it bears noting, is hardly the first prominent figure on the right to legitimize Jones. Donald Trump as a candidate in 2015 appeared on Jones’s show and told him: “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.” Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon praised Jones as “one of the smartest guys around on the topic of transhumanism.” U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance of Ohio earlier this year made a...
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