Alex Jones endorsement meaningless
POILIEVRE HAS ALMOST NOTHING IN COMMON WITH JONES. — MICHAEL TAUBE
Political leaders and parties love to needle one another. If they feel they can score points, they’ll jump at the first opportunity to craft a political narrative, messaging or spin to pounce on their opponents.
The strategy doesn’t always work. A supposedly big breaking news event in the eyes of some can turn out to be a nothing-burger in the eyes of many.
Here’s a recent example. Social media was fluttering when it was discovered that controversial U.S. talk radio host Alex Jones had endorsed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. “Been following this guy for years and he is the real deal!,” Jones posted on X on April 4. “Canada desperately needs a lot more leaders like him and so does the rest of the world.”
The 50-year-old Jones has been on the airwaves for nearly three decades. He’s been described as far-right, alt-right and a conspiracy theorist, among other things. He founded a website, Infowars, which he told The Washington Post in a Nov. 17, 2016 interview reportedly has tens of millions of listeners each month. He occasionally had the ear of former U.S. president Donald Trump when he was in the White House. He also spoke at, and partially funded, the Jan. 6, 2021 rally in Washington, D.C., that preceded the U.S. Capitol Building attack.
Jones tackles real news stories and political issues on Infowars, but he also focuses on outrageous ideas. He described 9/11 as an “inside job,” claimed the existence of “human-animal hybrids,” suggested the chemicals in our waters were turning “the freaking frogs gay,” and said former First Lady Michelle Obama may secretly be transgender.
He’s been in court on many occasions, too. The biggest trial was related to the Dec. 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 20 young children and six adults. Jones described the massacre as “staged” and a “giant hoax,” and suggested during a 2015 radio broadcast it was “synthetic,” “manufactured” and “completely fake with actors.” He apologized to the victims’ families on several occasions, but it was too late and had no effect. He was ordered to pay US$1.5 billion and filed for personal bankruptcy in December 2022.
Whether Jones legitimately believes this tripe — his lawyer, Randall Wilhite, once said Jones was “playing a character. He is a performance artist” during a 2017 custody battle with his ex-wife — is irrelevant. The bigger question is, what does any of this have to do with his decision to endorse Poilievre?
Canada’s political left attempted to link the two public figures as a means of scoring cheap points and cutting into the Conservative leader’s significant lead in the polls. The Liberal party, for instance, circulated a 16-second video clip with the eye-catching phrase that Poilievre “secures glowing endorsement from far-right American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.” An Oct. 3, 2022 piece in the left-wing Press Progress website noted that Jones had previously endorsed Poilievre and called him “totally anti-new World Order.” There was an assortment of social media posts by left-leaning Koolaid drinkers all the way to far-left loons suggesting Poilievre should immediately distance himself from Jones, or he’ll be forever tied to his words and ideas.
Most Canadian Conservatives, along with some business-oriented Liberals and political Independents, didn’t even bat an eye at Jones’s endorsement. The vast majority of Canadians, no matter what they think of Poilievre and the Conservatives, won’t pay any attention, either.
Why? Because most intelligent and rational-thinking Canadians will realize this supposedly big breaking news event isn’t worthy of their consideration.
To begin with, Poilievre has almost nothing in common with Jones. They both lean right politically, oppose most of what the political left believes in and speak well in public. That’s basically it. The two men couldn’t be more different as public figures, thinkers and representatives of the North American conservative movement.
Poilievre also can’t control what people say about him — and who ultimately chooses to endorse him. There are certain things that are completely out of the hands of elected officials. In particular, any and all endorsements, positive remarks and kind words from either side of the political spectrum — and any part of the world.
And besides, Poilievre doesn’t need to address Jones’s endorsement in any great detail. A few media organizations reported that the Opposition Leader’s Office said on April 5, “We do not follow the individual you mention or listen to what he says.” That’s more than enough. Anything else would only serve to provide legitimacy to the statement itself, and potentially open the doors to an even wider discussion and more conspiracy theories. As the old saying goes, less is more.
Here’s a different example to chew on.
Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad endorsed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals’ decision to support a ceasefire in Gaza in a December 2023 video. “We welcome these developments,” Hamad said, “and consider them in the right direction toward isolating the fascist Israeli government globally and ending the longest ever occupation in our modern time.”
In spite of Ottawa’s mealymouthed approach to the Israel-hamas war, does this endorsement link Trudeau to the bloodthirsty terrorist organization in any fashion? Of course not. Much the same way that Poilievre shouldn’t be linked to Jones’s unwanted endorsement in any way, shape or form.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF CANADIANS ... WON’T PAY ANY ATTENTION.