Fox News' Glenn Beck increasingly echoes the theories and conclusions of Alex Jones, a fringe conspiracy theorist and host of a daily radio show promoting those theories. These include belief in the imposition of a “new world order” and global government, opposition to the Federal Reserve, and attacks on Cass Sunstein, John Holdren, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Beck and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones are two of a kind
Written by Oliver Willis
Published
Jones touts his apparent influence on Beck
Jones to Beck: “I salute you.” In a video published September 29 on YouTube, Alex Jones told Glenn Beck that after years of disliking Beck's programs, he recently watched his show and said, “I salute you, you are trailblazing, you are reaching tens of millions of people every week with the truth.” Jones continued, “You are beginning to get on the right side of history,” and added: “I'm really flattered, actually, that my research, my ideas, are having such an effect through you.”
Jones to Beck: “Try to do what you can to redeem yourself.” In a September 15 “open letter” on his Prison Planet website, Jones appealed to Beck to push his theories:
I appeal to you directly Glenn -- think twice about what you are doing, think twice about what you are a part of right now. Try to do what you can to redeem yourself and don't be a Benedict Arnold, don't be a traitor that takes legions of good-natured but hoodwinked people down the rat hole with you as America collapses because those who had voices and platforms used them to deceive and distract rather than tell the truth.
Alleged would-be Tides shooter a fan of both Beck, Jones
Williams: Beck “like a schoolteacher on TV.” As Media Matters detailed, Byron Williams -- who reportedly told investigators that “his intention was to start a revolution by traveling to San Francisco and killing people of importance at the Tides Foundation and the ACLU” -- cited Jones' Prison Planet as a source of information. Williams also said that Beck “blew my mind.” adding that Beck is “like a schoolteacher on TV.”
Beck & Jones embrace “a new world order”
Jones: “There's a new world order.” The idea of a “new world order” is pervasive throughout much of Jones' work. For instance, in a June 10, 2008, video, Jones promised to explain to the audience “Yes, there's a new world order” and “I assure you, my friends, that it is nothing less than total enslavement.” Jones' website sells a video called Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined, which purports to show how “men of power and influence have worked in stealth for centuries to establish an oppressive world government.”
Beck: “A new world order” and “global government” is “being cobbled together today.” On the April 26 edition of his radio show, Beck told his audience that President Obama “a new world order” and “global government” were “being cobbled together today and the Republicans are standing by and allowing it to happen.” On his June 21 Fox show, Beck claimed philanthropist George Soros is “using their time to get filthy rich and create a new, new, new world order,” while on August 18 Beck said on his radio show that Goldman Sachs was “setting themselves up for the new world order.”
Beck & Jones fearmonger over “global governance”
Jones: Copenhagen climate summit designed to create global government using carbon taxes. In a video posted to YouTube on December 19, 2009, Jones claimed that the climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark had as part of its agenda a plan to create global government and global governance using carbon taxes.
Beck: “We're headed towards global governance.” On his May 25 Fox show, Glenn Beck said, “We're headed towards global governance” if you “listen” to what the Obama administration says.
Beck & Jones share guests to talk about one world government
Jones hosted Damon Vickers to discuss population issues. On his January 8, 2010, show Jones hosted investment firm manager Damon Vickers to discuss population control and global government.
Beck hosted Damon Vickers to discuss the “one world government thing”. On the November 17, 2009, edition of his radio show, Beck hosted Damon Vickers to discuss the “one world government thing.” Vickers also appeared on Beck's TV show the same day, during which he mentioned that he “had the benefit of doing The Alex Jones Show last night.”
Jones cites Vickers as an example of guests he and Beck share. In an October 4 Russia Today video, following clips of appearances by Vickers on Jones' radio show and Beck's Fox News show, Jones said that Beck has “guests that no one's ever heard of that we interviewed two months before he then has on.”
Beck & Jones on regulation and the new world order
Jones: “The new world order” is “creating a network of international laws to regulate and control and dominate nations.” In an April 7, 2009, interview with Russia Today, Alex Jones said: “The new world order is a private group of ultra-rich bankers who are off-shore. They're above the U.S., they're above Iran, Russia, Venezuela. They are international. And they are creating a network of international laws to regulate and control and dominate nations.”
Beck: Regulation is the “cornerstone of the new world order.” On his April 26 radio show, Beck claimed that regulation is the “cornerstone of the new world order” and that “what was conspiracy theory is quickly becoming conspiracy fact.”
Beck & Jones attack the Federal Reserve
Alex Jones video: “Abolish the Federal Reserve.” In a video posted to YouTube on September 30, 2008, Alex Jones burns a dollar bill as the Rage Against The Machine song “Freedom” plays. The video conlcludes with text saying, “Abolish the Federal Reserve.”
Jones: “The Federal Reserve is a parasitic criminal organization.” A November 2008 video depicts Jones outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shouting into a bullhorn, “The Federal Reserve is a parasitic criminal organization, and we're here exposing you. ... These are the new world order criminals. The Federal Reserve is a private banking cartel and a criminal organization. These are the bloodsuckers engineering the depression we're going into.”
Beck promoted book that said the Federal Reserve was created by a conspiracy of Jewish bankers. On the September 22 edition of Glenn Beck, Beck promoted Secrets Of The Federal Reserve, a book written by anti-Semite Eustace Mullins as an attack against the Federal Reserve System.
Beck & Jones repeat same falsehoods about Holdren
Jones: Holdren “says forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet.” On the July 12, 2009, edition of his radio show, Jones asserted that White House science and technology adviser John Holdren, in a textbook he co-authored, “says forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet.” A July 11, 2009, Prison Planet post similarly claims that “Holdren advocated forced abortions, mass sterilization through food and water supply and mandatory bodily implants to prevent pregnancies.”
Beck: Holdren wants to “sterilize the drinking water to stop overpopulation” and “force abortions.” On the November 18, 2009, edition of his Fox News show, Beck said: “One of the spookiest guys in the administration is John Holdren. He's the ”Hey, let's sterilize the drinking water to stop overpopulation. Let's force abortions so we don't have too many kids." Beck repeated the claim on the December 11, 2009, edition of his radio show and on the May 13 edition of his TV show.
PolitiFact.com called claim “pants on fire” false. The website PolitiFact.com concluded that “the text of the book” at the root of Beck's and Jones' falsehood “clearly does not support” that Holdren supports “forced abortions” and “sterilants in the drinking water.” PolitiFact added: “We think a thorough reading shows that these were ideas presented as approaches that had been discussed. They were not posed as suggestions or proposals. In fact, the authors make clear that they did not support coercive means of population control. Certainly, nowhere in the book do the authors advocate for forced abortions.” PolitiFact gave Beck's claim “pants on fire” status. Indeed, Holdren and his co-authors advocated for noncoercive means of population control.
Jones suggested Beck following his lead on pushing Holdren claim. During the October 7 Alex Jones Show, Jones asked guest and Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano whether Napolitano has been “influencing” Glenn Beck because “he is getting more and more hardcore.” Jones later suggested that Beck followed him on pushing the falsehood that Obama administration official John Holdren is in favor of “forced sterilization in the water.”
Beck & Jones smear Cass Sunstein
Jones' websites compares Sunstein to Goebbels, claimed he created “blueprint” to silence critics. In May 21, Alex Jones' site Infowars.com compared Sunstein to Joseph Goebbels. From a January 15 Infowars.com article:
As Obama's “Information Czar”, Sunstein effectively interprets the law for the Executive. Sunstein operates in a similar, but much more elevated, role to that of former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo, who infamously re-interpreted the law to legally sanction torture under the Bush Administration.
As we highlighted in our article yesterday, Sunstein has outlined plans for the government to infiltrate “conspiracy groups”, including the 9/11 Truth Movement, in order to undermine them via postings on chat rooms and social networks, as well as real meetings.
Sunstein has effectively penned the blueprint for a Cointelpro “provocateur” style program to silence what have become the government's most vociferous and influential critics.
Beck called Sunstein “the man who controls everything.” On the May 26 edition of his show Beck said that as White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) administrator, Sunstein “is the man that controls everything through nudges. He'll just nudge you. He'll never tell you what to do, he nudges.” Beck then compared him to the director character in the movie The Truman Show, who gave the protagonist Truman the illusion of choice while controlling the world around him. Beck said Sunstein advocates a similar policy in his book Nudge, and that Sunstein has “wanted the job in the control room his whole life.”
Beck also compared Sunstein to Goebbels. On the May 27 edition of his radio show, Beck called Sunstein “the most dangerous man in America,” then said there were “very frightening, frightening similarities” between what Sunstein allegedly is doing and what Goebbels did.
Beck & Jones vs. Council on Foreign Relations
Beck: CFR helped control journalism. On the January 29 edition of his show, Glenn Beck claimed that the Council on Foreign Relations was partially created by Walter Lippman during the Woodrow Wilson era in order to control journalism by using the media “to teach” because they thought that “they knew better” than the public.
Jones has repeatedly attacked CFR. In an article posted May 12 on Jones' website, the CFR is described as “a global agenda organization filled with collectivists who advocated population and covert control over America and the world.” An April 9, 2009, article on Jones' website PrisonPlanet.com said, “The Obama administration's announcement that it is to consider radical planetary 'geo-engineering', such as 'shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays', exactly mirrors recent publications penned by the elite Council On Foreign Relations.” A November 7, 2008, Infowars.com article highlighted “Obama's leading foreign and domestic policy advisors and likely administration members, every one of them a prominent member of the Council On Foreign Relations.”
Beck & Jones vs. International Monetary Fund
Jones published anti-IMF attacks. On the October 27, 2006, edition of his radio show, Jones described an “IMF World Bank riot,” a conspiracy in which the IMF “destroy[s]” an economy “by design” then they “get to put in a dictator or a plutocracy and then they just have literal rule by the bankers over the people.” In an April 23 Russia Today video, Jones called the IMF “a private holding company of the top 10 global banks worldwide. I mean, they've looted every Third World nation on the planet. They've raided Eastern Europe. They've raided Russia. They've raided country after country, and now they're doing to the West what they're doing to the rest of the world. ... They are the people that engineered the banking collapse.”
Beck has promoted IMF conspiracies. On April 21, Beck claimed that the IMF was promoting a global tax that they might benefit from, when in fact the IMF according to a Financial Times report, “steered well clear” of proposing any such tax. Beck also claimed that the names of the members of the IMF couldn't be found, when in fact they are available on the IMF's website.
Beck & Jones on swine flu vaccines
Jones pushed swine flu conspiracy theories on Infowars.com. On June 17, 2009, Infowars.com reprinted an article titled “Swine Flu Vaccination Poses Serious Threat To Your Health,” on July 24, 2009 an article claimed “12,000 U.S. Children To Be Swine Flu Vaccine Guinea Pigs.” An October 30, 2009 reprint said “The Goal of Every H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine: Immunotoxicity, Neurotoxicity and Sterility.” In a video posted to YouTube on September 23, 2009, Jones said, “New York nurse. Church told to take vaccine, what, did your clergy response team FEMA preacher tell you to take it our you'd go to hell?” During a discussion of vaccines on his August 18, 2009, radio show, Jones said that “if people knew how deadly vaccines were, they would never take them.”
Beck: Refusing to take “mandatory” swine flu vaccinations could lead to being “put on a bus” by the government. On the September 30, 2009, edition of his radio show, Beck theorized that the government could make the vaccination “mandatory” and that refusal could led to people being “put on a bus” by the government. Like Jones, Beck also made the case that the vaccine could be deadly, claiming that, “If you say, 'Don't take the swine flu vaccination,' and then it turns out that the swine flu this particular wave is virulent and the vaccination would have helped, well then, you know, what role did I play in that? The opposite is true; I say, 'Everybody take the vaccination,' and that turns out to be deadly, what role did I play in that? I'm just not willing to do that.”
Beck & Jones attack climate change science
Jones websites called climate change “a failed attempt to establish 'scientific dictatorship' ”; Jones called climate change a “fraud.” On October 27, 2009, Infowars.com published an article titled “From Global Warming to the New World Order”, on August 31 it published “Climate Change: A Failed Attempt To Establish 'Scientific Dictatorship'.” On November 23, 2009, Jones issued a “video press release” promoting the false “Climategate” story. In the video he claimed universities had been caught “faking” temperature data, and the idea that information supporting climate change had been proven “a fraud.” Jones also claimed that “the global climate tax” had been exposed by the leaked e-mails.
Beck has consistently attacked climate change, describing at as a hoax and worse. On June 8, 2006, Beck said Al Gore's documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, was “like Hitler.” On May 2, 2007, Beck spent an hour of his CNN Headline News show attacking An Inconvenient Truth, reiterating myths like falsely claiming that increases in carbon dioxide don't increase temperature or by promoting “the Oregon petition,” an anti-Kyoto protocol petition signed by many non-experts in the field of climate science but presented as a scientific document.
Beck likened Gore's global warming activism to “Goebbels or Hitler.” On the April 24, 2009, edition of his radio show, Beck said of Gore's global warming activism: “If I'm not mistaken, it was Goebbels or Hitler that talked about lies. The bigger, the more audacious the lie, the easier it is for people to buy.”
Beck & Jones promote Chicago Climate Exchange conspiracy
Jones claimed, “Obama owns part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that's selling these carbon credits.” On his December 19, 2009, show, Jones said, “It's in the news now that Obama owns part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that's selling these carbon credits.”'
Beck claimed Obama was “bringing all of the money together for the climate change exchange in Chicago.” On the April 29 edition of his radio show, Beck said that the Chicago Climate Exchange involves the “Joyce Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Al Gore,” and Obama “bringing all of the money together for the climate change exchange in Chicago.”
Beck & Jones attack United Nations
Jones claimed U.N. was “cutting the heads off little children,” is “pure evil.” On October 24, 1998, Jones gave a speech at the Texas State Capitol in which he attacked United Nations peacekeeping forces for allegedly “cutting the heads off little children.” Appearing in a Russia Today video on September 23, Jones said that the United Nations is a “purely wicked organization,” and a “green, Nazi, world-government, eugenics movement wrapped in a humanitarian package. It is pure evil.” Jones also claimed that the U.N. “inherently was designed for fraud and corruption and taking over sovereign nations” and that its “mission is to set up a covert world government.”
Beck: “The Constitution is being taken apart piece by piece through ... the United Nations.” On the April 1, 2009, edition of his radio show, Beck said that “The Constitution is being taken apart piece by piece through international coalitions, through international law, and through the United Nations.”