Media Matters for America, a left-wing watchdog group, is considering buying Alex Jones’ InfoWars after a Texas judge ruled the outlet could be liquidated to pay the families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. , according to a report.
Courts in Texas and Connecticut ruled that conspiracy theorist Jones must pay the families $1.5 billion in damages for repeatedly claiming the shooting never happened. Last week, a judge in Houston ruled that Free Speech Systems, the parent company of InfoWars, could be liquidated and auctioned off to help pay the judgment.
Semaphore reported Sunday that a handful of liberal organizations and nonprofits are exploring bids on InfoWars, including the left-leaning group Media Matters.
“We are seriously considering this acquisition,” Media Matters president Angelo Carusone told the paper. Carusone added that the organization would consider reviewing the InfoWars archives to see what the media has not published.
Jones recently suggested that Infowars’ assets could be bought by his backers, allowing him to continue hosting his show as an employee under the Infowars brand in their hometown of Austin, Texas.
In recent days, Jones publicly pleaded with X boss Elon Musk to buy InfoWars, Semafor said, adding that one of the billionaire’s first actions as Twitter owner was to revoke the page ban on Jones’ account.
An unnamed source told the publication that they expect Jones to find an outside financier who will outbid the competition, take control of the site at auction and install Jones as the head of the property.
That may come as no surprise to Jones’ victims, Semafor reported, adding that one of the lawsuits involved allowing Jones to keep InfoWars as a way to generate money to pay off massive damages owed to him.
The publication also reported that there are several other left-leaning groups that are toying with the idea of bidding on Infowars ahead of the November auction.
Jeff Rotkoff, CEO of new Texas-focused digital publication Barbed Wire, told the publication that while he is not currently in a position to buy the Austin-based company, he is in talks with people in his network to partnered with his site to bid as a group.
“We started Barbed Wire in part to disrupt the constant flow of conspiracies and disinformation from people like Alex Jones and Joe Rogan, and it would be a step toward justice if you used the InfoWars brand to undo some of the damage they’ve caused. “, Rotkoff said.
A third unnamed executive at a left-leaning media company said they would review the bid this week, and an adviser to several progressive nonprofit news organizations said they are talking to major donors about making a bid or launching a crowdfunding campaign.
Semafor also reported that others on the left have been clamoring about the tender process.
In one POST on X earlier this week, Brian Krassenstein, who along with his twin brother became famous for his viral anti-Trump tweets, said he would “call it MissInfoWars and hire Alex Jones again, but would make her dress up as ‘Alexa Jones’ and tell fairy tales.”
Although the post was positioned more as a joke, Krassenstein said he had interest in bidding on the site.
“We are actually looking at the bid, but I can’t imagine winning it as I’m sure it will exceed our budget,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Jones and his company both filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 — the same year Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional distress lawsuits against Jones because he repeatedly called the school shooting in in 2012 a scam organized by “crisis actors” to get more weapons. approved control legislation.
Twenty first graders and six teachers were killed in a shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
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