Stephen Colbert was born to play Alex Jones. The comedian, who spent ten years on The Colbert Report as a faux conservative commentator, nailed the hate-spewing far-Right provocateur to the wall in a sketch on The Late Show.
If you missed the news yesterday, Alex Jones is in court fighting for custody of his three children. If you are blessed not to know who Alex Jones is, he’s the inexplicably popular, conspiracy theory-spreading radio host of InfoWars. A man who Donald Trump listens to. A man who has spent years yelling about everything from 9/11 to the execrable assertion that the Sandy Hook shootings were a hoax.
Jones’ estranged wife is arguing that he is unstable, and using his unhinged rants—which are broadcast worldwide—as proof. In response, Jones’ lawyer made the claim that his client’s bombastic style is just a “persona,” and Jones himself “a performance artist.” Jones’ lawyer went on to say that judging Jones by his show would be akin to judging Jack Nicholson as the Joker because he played him in Batman.
But as the Independent points out, “The claim is likely to cause some confusion among Mr Jones’s fans, who have closely followed his musings. These included unfounded assertions that the Sandy Hook massacre and Boston bombings were hoaxes, Hillary Clinton should be jailed and that Barack Obama founded Isis.”
Jones may think—or claim—that he’s just hamming it up for cash and fame, but his pet theories have taken root and are held as the gospel truth by many of his followers. Sandy Hook families are still harassed daily by people who say their children never died—and for that alone, Alex Jones should be run out of town and never allowed a platform again.
But I digress. On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert took Jones to task by playing a mocked-up version of him. Colbert is someone who actually developed a persona and performed him for laughs and to make a point—but it was always clear through his tongue-in-cheek manner and sarcastic spin that the Colbert Report’s patriotic eagle screeches and posturing were a joke the audience was in on, unlike Jones’ spiel. I got to attend several tapings of the Report and before it began, Colbert would always come out and ask us, “Any questions before I go into character?”
In his intro to the issue, Colbert calls Jones “the insane radio host” and also “customer making the waitress cry,” and “like a coked out football coach in a police standoff.” And Colbert includes audio from Alex Jones supporter Donald Trump, who appeared on Jones’ show and said, “Your reputation is amazing.” Yet another Alex Jones fan who doesn’t appear to realize Jones is apparently just a performance artist. One who is now President of the United States.
Here’s Stephen Colbert as “Tuck Buckford,” a “satirical radio host” of the fake show Brain Fight.
“Welcome back to ‘Brain Fight.’ Listen, people, the liberals want to tattoo Obama logos onto the skin of Christian babies, O.K.? And it makes me want to fight! Fight with my fists! My blood is on fire! My heart is a volcano. It’s time to throw a virgin in there! I’m a skeleton wrapped in angry meat! I’m a warrior! I’m a king! One thing I’m not is a performance artist, because I hate artists, because Andy Warhol put chemicals in Campbell’s soup that turns veterans into bisexual zombies! Now a word from our sponsor, self-lubricating catheters. Buy my vitamins!”
It feels like karma that Alex Jones is being publically revealed as the fraud he is while Stephen Colbert’s ratings have never been higher. This is some good news that I will cling to as international news continues to spiral down the apocalyptic drain. Please never leave us, Stephen.
(via The Independent, NY Times, image: screengrab)
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