The Trump White House is doing its best to create a press corps that’ll help Sean Spicer broadcast his alternative facts. Except for Fox News, they’ve essentially shut out most other networks’ access to administration officials for interviews, and now they’re filling Spicer’s press room with even more obedient news outlets.
It’s not really possible to call Alex Jones’s InfoWars a “news outlet,” but they just received credentials and earned a spot at Spicer’s pressers. It only remains to be seen how long it will take him to call on them—perhaps a day or two?
Representing InfoWars at the White House will be Jerome Corsi, a former World Nut Daily columnist (he resigned Monday), the leader of the team that swiftboated John Kerry, and birther extraordinaire. We know Corsi well in Arizona; he’s the principal investigator former Sheriff Joe Arpaio leaned on to prove President Obama was not born in the US. Years later, we’ve had a lot of Arpaio-Corsi press conferences, a 2011 book titled Where’s the Birth Certificate? and nothing to show except empty speculation.
Corsi and Arpaio were early supporters of Donald Trump, who entered politics under their birther banner. When Trump visited the Phoenix area during the campaign, Arpaio always spoke at the rally. You can only imagine that scene—Trump, Arpaio and Brewer. Although Trump said last year that he believes Obama was born in the US, Arpaio and Corsi are still chewing on that bone, so perhaps we’ll be entertained with a question or two about the birth certificate at Spicer’s briefings.
Early in the campaign Trump appeared regularly on Alex Jones’s conspiracy show, and after his Nov. 8 victory one of the first “thank you” videos Trump sent was to Alex Jones, to air for his followers. He should thank Jones, who gave Trump so much of his material, which Jones bragged about:
“It is surreal to talk about issues here on air and then word-for-word hear Trump say it two days later. It is amazing.”
Yes, it’s “surreal” all right, and scary as hell. Trump’s been spewing Jones’s alt-right bullshit for years, from birtherism to a more recent InfoWars-fueld conspiracy: that 3 million or more people voted illegally for Hillary. It’s bullshit but it’s become policy.
Meanwhile, keep a close eye on whatever hits the front page of Infowars. It could trigger Trump’s next executive order.
After which, Sean Spicer can call on Jerome Corsi for a question about Trump’s directive—a convenient closed circle-jerk of hate.