After the satirical publication The Onion acquired all the assets and intellectual property of far-right webcaster Alex Jones’ Infowars platform, CNN’s Jake Tapper sat down on Wednesday with Ben Collins, who runs the Onion’s parent company Global Tetrahedron, and John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, to get their thoughts on the matter.
Jones was forced to liquidate his assets to help pay off a $1.5 billion judgment against him won by the families who lost their children in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which Jones repeatedly claimed was a false flag staged by the government with child actors. The conspiracy theorist incited his supporters to harass the victims’ families for years, and those families ultimately gave The Onion backing to purchase Infowars’ assets at auction.
“What is it like for you, as somebody who used to fight disinformation?” Tapper asked Collins, who worked for NBC before acquiring The Onion.
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“It obviously — it feels good,” said Collins. “But I think in general, people need a little hope right now. People need the idea that a good thing can happen. Alex has made — and people like him, the general ecosystem he created — have made it so the families in these situations don’t even appear to be anything other than characters in his universe. What is great about this, the families, we are human beings. We have senses of humor. This is a big cosmic joke to play on Alex Jones and the whole world. The Onion, which is known for making fun of everybody, has purchased Infowars from him at a Storage Wars-style auction. It feels good. Hopefully, if you are a Sandy Hook family right now, there is a cosmic justice happening. That’s why we did this. We want people to feel at home. We want people to think that a good thing can happen.”
“John, the acquisition could be symbolic for the families,” said Tapper. “Are you concerned that Alex Jones will find and make a new platform?”
“Look, I think that what our job is right now, the one right in front of us, to fight fear and fight misinformation,” said Feinblatt. “And by writing the new chapter at Infowars, that is what we are doing. As you say, that is poetic justice and karmic justice.”
“Thanks to you and congratulations,” said Tapper. “And most important, congratulations to the Sandy Hook families, for this moment of justice in the dark world.”
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