“Totally Synced”: How Donald Trump And Alex Jones’ Conspiracy Theory Movement Speaks With One Voice

Alex Jones announced on his radio show this week that it has been “surreal to talk about issues here on air and then word-for-word hear [Donald] Trump say it two days later. It is amazing.” Indeed, as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes pointed out, it has been “completely surreal” to watch the Republican nominee for President of the United States echo the nation’s most prominent conspiracy theorist; but he’s done just that, repeatedly.

During the campaign, Trump has echoed Jones’ conspiracy theories on several topics, including the leadership of ISIS, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and the possibility of a “rigged” general election.

Jones’ website Infowars.com has described him as “one of the very first founding fathers of the 9-11 Truth Movement.” The movement believes that the U.S. government was behind the September 11, 2001, attacks. Jones also has promoted conspiracy theories about government involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the Boston Marathon bombing, and several mass shootings.

Trump appeared on Jones’ show in December and praised the host for his “amazing” reputation, promising him that “I will not let you down.” In return, Jones called Trump “a true maverick” and described his presidential campaign as “epic” and “George Washington level.”

Over the last year, Trump has frequently spoken about issues of importance to Jones and the conspiracy theory movement he leads, often in the same language and within days of those issues being raised on Jones’ program.

Jones reportedly received “special guest” credentials to attend the Republican National Convention and praised Trump’s acceptance speech as “totally synced” with the conspiracy theory movement, saying that Trump’s attack on the concept of “globalism” -- a frequent target of the conspiracy movement -- “sent absolute lightning bolts of fear into their guts in the New World Order.”

Jones has also often hosted Trump friend and adviser Roger Stone, who maintains close contact with the candidate. Trump and Stone coordinated a rally in favor of Trump at the convention and have given out instructions on how to donate to Trump’s campaign.

In February, a senior Trump adviser gave an interview to Jones' website and urged Jones' fans to vote in the South Carolina and New Hampshire Republican primaries.

Days after Jones posted a video entitled “An Emergency Message to Donald Trump” asking the candidate to start pushing a narrative that the general election would be “rigged,” Trump began to echo the host. He told a rally audience that Clinton is “going to try and steal the general election,” adding, “I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest.” (Stone had also been urging Trump to raise the issue.)

At a campaign rally in Florida this week, Trump said that President Obama is “the founder of ISIS,” and added, “I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.” (Trump has since tried to claim he was using “sarcasm.”)

That reflects a position that has been promoted by Jones for some time. His website alleges “there is concrete evidence that the Obama administration has been backing ISIS since the beginning.” Jones has also said Clinton was “like the commanding general of Al-Qaeda and ISIS” and said she and Obama are “the ones running ISIS.” Jones also claims that “ISIS is Obama’s proxy army.”

Trump and Jones have also been in lockstep on other conspiracies.

Jones has often promoted the birther conspiracy that President Obama was not born in the United States, a nonsense theory that Trump has eagerly pushed.

Infowars promoted the idea that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had been killed around the same time Trump floated the theory in an appearance on Michael Savage’s radio show.

And when Trump argued, without evidence, that Ted Cruz’s father Rafael Cruz was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he was echoing a claim that had already been made on Jones’ website.