ABC's The View Features 9/11 Truther Alex Jones, Barbara Walters Fails to Denounce Conspiracy Theories
Alex Jones, a 9/11 truther and promoter of other conspiracy theories, appeared on ABC's The View Monday to defend his friend Charlie Sheen, but diverted the interview into slamming George W. Bush for turning American into "a police state." Veteran journalist Barbara Walters did not denounce the radio host when he referenced the theory that the government was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Co-hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg, who walked out when they objected to a comment Bill O'Reilly made about Muslims, did not leave when Jones attacked, "[Charlie Sheen] didn't kill a million people in Iraq. He wasn't involved with the takedown of Building Seven here in New York."
(Building Seven, across the street from the World Trade Center, is a key component to those who believe that the Twin Towers were taken down by a controlled demolition, not as a result of international terrorism.) Later, Jones shifted the subject to politics again and ranted, "Let's compare George Bush, a million dead in Iraq!"
[See video below. MP3 here.]
An exasperated Elisabeth Hasselbeck complained, "If you're going to come here and go there, we're asking you about your friend! Let's stick to the topic!"
Jones continued, "Torture! Secret arrests! America is turning into a police state!" Walters mildly insisted, "I think we are here to talk about Charlie Sheen. I'm not trying to cut you off." She then enthused, "You are certainly a wonderful friend [to Sheen]."
As the segment ended, Jones got in a plug for his conspiracy website, "Stay clean. Don't use drugs. Infowars.com." (On Friday, MSNBC allowed Jones to promote his site.)
Viewers will remember that the ABC program previously had a truther as a co-host. On March 29, 2007, Rosie O'Donnell asserted that 9/11 was the "first time in history fire has ever melted steel."
[Thanks to MRC intern Matt Hadro for editing the video.]
A partial transcript of the February 28 segment, which aired at 11:36am EST, follows:
BARBARA WALTERS: Joining us now is the radio show host and close friend of Charlie Sheen, the man he was talking to, Alex Jones. Welcome.
ALEX JONES: Thanks for having me. If I could just say one thing: I've known Charlie for about six and a half years. He's never drunk alcohol, used drug in front of me. He's been completely clean for almost a decade until about seven months ago. Now, he's come off the drugs and alcohol, which is almost like, you know, being off your meds. It has the same effect. So he's supercharged, he's angry, he's focused. And I know that when they interviewed him at his house, 'cause I talked to him for about two hours. That's a little, kind of, joke that's out of context. He's tired of being judged and him being held up as the ultimate demon in this world. He didn't kill a million people in Iraq. He wasn't involved with the takedown of Building Seven here in New York. He thinks there's bigger devils out there than himself. And Chuck Lorre has put out a whole bunch of these cue cards while having management tell him a month ago, if you speak out against four episodes being cut, we're going to fire you. Then he puts out all these-
SHERRI SHEPHERD: Chuck Lorre?
ALEX JONES: Yes, Chuck Lorre.
BARBARA WALTERS: The producer?
JONES: He puts out vanity cards not just on Two and a Half Men but other shows saying Charlie Sheen is dead inside and soulless. You didn't show the worst one there.
...
JONES: Oh, they've been comparing him to Qadhafi. Let's compare George Bush, a million dead in Iraq!
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Oh, God! Are we going to really go there?
JONES: Torture! Secret arrests! America is turning into a police state!
HASSELBECK: If you're going to come here and go there, we're asking you about your friend! Let's stick to the topic!
WALTERS: I think we are here to talk about Charlie Sheen. I'm not trying to cut you off.
JONES: Charlie says you have a right to kill him, but not judge him, as Colonel Kurtz said!
WALTERS: Thank you. Thank you. You are certainly a wonderful friend.
.
JONES: Charlie, stay clean. We love you. And everybody else out there. Stay clean. Don't use drugs. Infowars.com.
WALTERS: Thanks a good message. Okay.
— Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Comments
What a moron! A shame that
Submitted by sean_m on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 2:20pm.
What a moron! A shame that there's not more outlets for a conservative point of view in the main stream media. The hypocrisy is insane.
It's funny how all these 9/11
Submitted by Brad90956 on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 2:53pm.
It's funny how all these 9/11 truthers never have a single shred of evidence to back up their theories.
Similar to Global Warming
Submitted by JakeMo on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:12pm.
Can't say I agree with you there. They seem to have a plethora of "evidence" if you visit any of their sites
Of course, much of the "evidence" is conflicting and contradictory. And none of it stands up to the scrutiny of reasonable people. But they do seem to compile a great deal of material with as much organization and fastidiousness as you might see in the home of a hoarder (i.e. complete disorder).
It reminds me very much of the "overwhelming evidence" for Global Warming. Which may be why many of the same people are in both camps.
Having a conversation with one of these guys is like trying to get directions from a homeless guy on crack. They're all over the place.
That's the problem. Was it
Submitted by Thoreau on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:15pm.
That's the problem. Was it an inside job? Find the explosive residue.. there's plenty of material to check. Does metal not fatigue when an airplane explodes in an enclosed building? Show us.
Whereas these guys have yet to produce proof, you flip the coin, and you see the birther's have proof. In as much as there is no proof where proof is required. That's the difference.
You can have all the theories you want, but don't pimp it as fact because you can't wrap your head around muslims wanting to kill us. You would think the last 1000 years would have been a primer for a clue. Anyhow, Alex Jones isn't somebody I listen to.
While he does produce facts on deficit numbers, he has yet to produce anything for this. And I'd say it's important when you accuse your own people of blowing up their own buildings. Proof is not optional in this case. Find it or STFU.
As someone who has had mnimal
Submitted by BD on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 11:10pm.
As someone who has had mnimal experience with controlled demolition I can tell you that in order to effectively implodea building as the "Troofers" claim was done, nearly all of the main supporting beams need to be isolated and have all the exterior material removed in order to allow the explosives to directly impact the supports.
Couple that with miles of det cord being laid to allow each beam to be hit in serial running through the hallways. I can only imagine the people who worked there would say "You know, for the week prior to 9/11 we had a crew stripping all the walls bare and laying miles of cord throughout the building.
That is unless the explosive material was built in in the 1970's upon construction. Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... That s the ticket. Those wiley Bush people built the building just to destroy it. Ha!
Everyone in the buildings
Submitted by Boudin on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 11:18pm.
Destine to be blown up in the middle of a workday, was in on it.
Sure - Sure..... Hell, the
Submitted by BD on Tue, 03/01/2011 - 8:50am.
Sure - Sure.....
Hell, the Government could barely keep Overlord under wraps for 60 days.
WHo thinks they could keep this from the front page by some schnook like the wiki leaker?
The Liberal Mindset
Submitted by Conservator on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:25pm.
9/11 truthers are good honest Americans while Birthers are nasty lying Americans. Then Jones changes the subject to politics and ranted, "Let's compare George Bush, a million dead in Iraq!" The best source of civilian deaths in Iraq is a liberal web site - Iraq Body Count (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/). Today's "Documented civilian deaths from violence is 99,901 to 109,143 - a far cry from 1 million.I think Jones is a nut
Submitted by vaboxrboy on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:29pm.
But he was brought on because he says he's Sheen's friend and THAT's the story that is hot today. Whenever he went off on those tangents the ladies ALL tried to shut him up and focus on the Sheen angle. In my book they are both screwed in the head and hopefully will make a speedy exit stage left. Charlie sounded like Gary Busey today and we all know what his damage is.
Alex Jones must have recently
Submitted by Beukeboom on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:41pm.
Alex Jones must have recently hired a new, more aggessive publicist/agent since he's showing up in all sorts of place where he really doesn't belong. Hopefully he'll fade back into relative obscurity soon.
Ok, that settled that
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:44pm.
The other day I said he could go either way, he's right or he's nuts. Now he's left with "He's nuts." A sane person would have stayed on topic, especially after he was admonished to do so. If and I do mean a BIG IF he had any credibility, it just got thrown out into the trash heap.
Given that this guy and how Sheen insist that WTC was an inside job, showing how nuts they are, I'm sorry, but the porn stars that were hanging with Sheen have a lot more credibility. The porn stars have been tweeting about him doing drugs in the bahamas, how that one called Capri Anderson was in the bathroom hiding as he was going nuts saying he was doing lines of coke and the evidence is against him saying it was all lies.
Sorry, Sheen's gonna end up in the grave before too long.
-Jon
Fire can not melt steel!
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:58pm.
Fire can not melt steel! Words to live by.
Counter to the prevailing sentiment
Submitted by JakeMo on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 4:12pm.
My opinion on 9/11 Truthers may run counter to the prevailing sentiment. I find them to be generally benign as far as my goals as a conservative.
At their worst, they are nuts. But even then, the most cogent argument against them, and one they certainly cannot dispute, is that the best remedy to eliminate government conspiracies is 3-pronged:
All three of these remedies are anathema to liberals. So it seems as if they back themselves into their own corner like a demon that hands you the holy water to douse him with.
I for one eagerly await
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 6:41pm.
I for one eagerly await Jones' validation by appearing on ed schultz. I will watch in utter amazement as these two intellectual titans provide the answers America so desperately seeks.
They should of asked
Submitted by Tjexcite on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 9:56pm.
They should of asked the birth certificate. Alex jumped on the Birther bandwagon rather early did he not. Did he fall off that wagon when his left Friends did not believe that conspiracy but still love the Troofers one even after all these years and not one person out of the thousands who carried it out came forward yet. Bush sure set up a nice police state so Obama can use it.