Alex Jones may be “what ‘Friday Night Lights’ would’ve looked like if they’d given Coach Taylor a nasty PCP habit,” according to John Oliver, but he’s also a lot more than that.
On Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver responded to previous remarks he made about the “InfoWars” host. Jones said on his show that his comments were taken out of context so Oliver promised that they’ll provide as much context as possible.
The segment focuses less on Jones’ alleged beliefs — such as that the Sandy Hook massacre was a government conspiracy — and more on what happens when the audience isn’t paying attention, of when they’re only seeing clips of Jones instead of his actual show.
According to Oliver, “InfoWars” often uses conspiracy theories to peddle products on the show’s website. Jones himself even touts them in between sections of shouting. When looked at in this way, “InfoWars” is less about trying to dismantle “fake news” and more about trying to keep the enterprise afloat enough for Jones to afford a Rolex watch.
In one clip, Jones is advertising an “organic” product that he says isn’t actually organic but made from organic materials such as a material “only found in comets” and in “trace amounts in blueberries.”
Oliver also dug into Dr. Edward Group, a medical expert Jones often has on his show who claims to be an M.I.T. alumnus. Oliver said he’s more like “a fifth year senior from the University of Falling Off a Surfboard.” In a skit at the end, Oliver teams up with Jack McBrayer, who’s doing an impersonation of Group, as a way to sell incredibly expensive John Oliver Tactical Assault Wipes.
In fact, if you go to infowipes.com you’ll be redirected to the HBO store where you can purchase the Tactical Assault Wipe for $1 million. Before you think that a person can just donate that much money to HBO, all net proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders.
“I promised Alex Jones that I would put his statements in context because he is right that if you play small clips in isolation, he looks like a loon,” Oliver said. “But if you play them in context, he looks like a skilled salesman spending hours a day frightening you about problems like refugees spreading disease and selling you an answer.”
Watch the full clip above.