Alex Jones Accused Of Capitalizing On Coronavirus Fears

AUSTIN, TX — Far-right radio host Alex Jones is attempting to capitalize on the new coronavirus threat — while spreading conspiracy theories about the respiratory illness oubreak — by aggressively hawking products sold via his nationally syndicated Infowars broadcast, according to a progressive website.

“I am very sad about this virus and very sad about the bio-weapons and things that are going on, but it is an opportunity for people to take advantage of the products we have," the Austin-based broadcaster says in a video pitching his product line of bulk food packages. There is no evidence to suggest the growing new coronavirus threat is the result of biological warfare.

The claim about Jones is made by Media Matters for America, which describes itself as a not-for-profit progressive research/information center "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."

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Media Matters said the price of bulk food at InfoWars' online store has more than doubled since China announced the outbreak of the respiratory ailment now known as COVID-19 in December. Since that initial outbreak revelation, the price of Jones' bulk food offerings have more than doubled — with the biggest package costing nearly $3,000, according to Media Matters.

The new coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that’s a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have sparked outbreaks in the past. At last check, some 4,000 people worldwide had succumbed to the illness.

In addition to broadcasting conspiracy theories, InfoWars operates an online store, which sells dietary supplements, apparel, firearm accessories and bulk food. An InfoWars video has been appearing in heavy rotation on the store’s “emergency survival foods” titled “EMERGENCY SURVIVAL FOODS: Coronavirus Clearance Sale.”

Jones urges viewers to purchase his InfoWars bulk food packages, with promises of prompt delivery. Explicit references to coronavirus are made in his sales pitch: “I noticed there were reports that food prices in general were going to be going up because of the crisis in China and surrounding areas and with how deadly this coronavirus is," Jones says in the video. “This is the lowest price you’re going to find anywhere, even when it’s at its regular price.”

Act before it's too late, Jones adds: “You can feel it in your bones, big stuff is coming down, whether it’s coronavirus or something else, now is the time to get prepared and I suggest folks get their storable food at InfowarsStore.com while you still can.”

Jones also urges viewers to buy large quantities of the products. “I personally have ordered more storable food just last week because I have to be able to take care of not just myself but my neighbors, because believe me, hungry starving neighbors are not a good thing to have and so it’s simple: You better hide your food or you better have extra.”

Amid the repeated sales pitches, InfoWars packages with prices up to $2,987.00 are shown in the video, Media Matters reported.

Conspiracy theorist Jones — whose reach grew after his interview with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 — is being sued by parents of one of the 26 children slain in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre after repeated claims that the mass shooting was a hoax perpetrated by anti-gun advocates and that the slain children were merely juvenile actors pretending to be dead. Since then, his broadcast has been removed from multiple digital platforms.