Alex Jones—noted conspiracy theory and dubious health supplement pusher who founded InfoWars—lashed out at former President Donald Trump after Trump touted COVID-19 vaccines during a widely circulated interview with far-right personality Candace Owens, calling him either "ignorant" or "one of the most evil men who ever lived."
It's worth noting both Jones and Owens make money from unproven alternatives to vaccination. A belief in the proven science behind the COVID vaccines hurts their bank accounts.
Jones' statements come after Owens made headlines last week for her claim "more people have died under COVID this year" even though "more people took the vaccine this year," which is misleading.
While the United States certainly lost more lives to COVID-19 this year than last year, the higher death toll was attributed to lower-than-needed vaccination rates in addition to a relaxation of everyday precautions to curb the virus' spread. The rise of the highly contagious Delta variant also contributed to higher death rates, largely among the unvaccinated population.
Owens' statements received considerable pushback from former President Donald Trump, whom she was interviewing at the time.
Although Trump has consistently downplayed the pandemic's severity, he shut her down by correcting her on claims about vaccine efficacy, stunning Owens and viewers in the process.
The livid Jones issued "an emergency Christmas Day warning" to Trump, which you can watch below.
Jones characterized his opposition to Trump's statements as a matter of life and death:
"You are either completely ignorant about the so-called ‘vaccine’ gene therapy that you helped ram through with Operation Warp Speed, or you are one of the most evil men who has ever lived to push this toxic poison on the public and to attack your constituents when they simply try to save their lives and the lives of others."
“What you told Candace Owens... is nothing but a raft of dirty lies.”
Jones then suggested Trump had been deceived by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases.
He urged Trump not to "go down in history as Josef Mengele 2.0,” evoking the name of the Nazi physician infamous for performing deadly experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
"“But now that you know that [Anthony] Fauci signed you onto a fraud, you must extricate yourself from this lie, or you will be forever known as the M.V.V.P., the Most Valuable Vaccine Pusher, and the name Trump will be associated with pure evil."
“Do not go down history as Josef Mengele 2.0...
“Your legacy will be that of a monster. Your legacy will be that of a eugenicist. Your legacy will be that of a child killer, using medical tyranny.”
Jones' statements were widely mocked as an example of Republicans eating one of their own.
For many it was a clear indication the most far-right elements of the GOP would toss even Trump aside for not backing their lies and conspiracy theories about the pandemic.
Jones' rant against Trump is his second in as many weeks.
Last week, Jones criticized Trump for endorsing booster shots, suggesting Trump was allied with the "new world order."
"Hell, we’re fighting Bill Gates and Fauci and Biden and the New World Order and Psaki and the Davos Group .. and now we’ve got Trump on their team!” Jones said in a widely circulated video that exemplified further conservative infighting over COVID-19 vaccines.
Trump recently revealed he'd received his booster shot, though he still attempted to toe the line with his base, telling Fox News host Bill O'Reilly he is still very much against vaccine and mask mandates.
His comments still drew a few jeers from the audience.
Previously, Trump claimed booster shots are nothing more than a "money-making operation" and criticized vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna, saying "you could see the dollar signs in their eyes."
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