Trump is in regular contact with Alex Jones, who thinks Sandy Hook was a government hoax

Impact
By Emily C. Singer

Alex Jones, noted conspiracy theorist and founder of the rightwing conspiracy site Infowars, says he's not only been in regular contact with President Donald Trump, but is giving him ideas, according to a new profile published by the German news outlet Der Spiegel.

"Trump and I have talked several times since the election — about freedom and our common goal to destroy our enemies," Jones told Der Spiegel.

Jones brings bizarre and offensive conspiracy theories floating in the dark corners of the internet to huge audiences, including Trump, who has also been a guest on Jones' show. "It is surreal to talk about issues here on air, and then word-for-word hear Trump say it two days later," Jones said during the presidential campaign. 

Among Jones' most belabored conspiracy theories is that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an "inside job." 

He also claims the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was fake, claiming no children were actually killed in the shooting.

"Sandy Hook is a synthetic completely fake with actors, in my view, manufactured," Jones said in January 2013. "I couldn't believe it at first. I knew they had actors there, clearly, but I thought they killed some real kids. And it just shows how bold they are, that they clearly used actors. I mean they even ended up using photos of kids killed in mass shootings here in a fake mass shooting in Turkey -- so yeah, or Pakistan. The sky is now the limit. I appreciate your call."

And he has made some bizarre claims, including that the government is putting chemicals in the water that are "turning the frogs gay."

During his appearance on Jones' show, Trump praised the notorious conspiracy theorist. "Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down," Trump said in the December 2015 show.

Trump administration also includes Infowars on its press list, and even gave the outlet, along with a handful of other outlets, early bullet points of Trump's upcoming joint congressional address.