Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has speculated that the so-called deep state would assassinate Donald Trump, either by shooting him or blowing up his airplane, if it looks likely he will win the 2024 presidential election.
The Infowars host spoke on his show on Sunday, reacting to the former president's appearance at a rally in Waco, Texas—during the 30th anniversary of one of America's deadliest resistances against law enforcement—in which he railed against prosecutors investigating him.
While Jones remains a potent voice on the fringes of the Make America Great Again movement that Trump stirred during his 2016 bid, he is often critical of the former commander-in-chief, saying on Sunday that he "still had issues with him."
However, he said that Trump's latest remarks were "hardcore" and suggested his rhetoric would scare the unseen powers Jones has claimed control the world.
Referring to the investigation by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, over his alleged involvement in hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels by his then-lawyer Michael Cohen in 2016, Trump declared that his "enemies are desperate to stop us," and "our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and to break our will."
The Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential primary race has repeatedly claimed the investigation into him was politically motivated, describing it as a "fake case" and a "witch-hunt" on his Truth social media platform. He has denied the allegations.
Trump had been widely expected to face an imminent indictment—which would make him the first U.S. president in history to face charges—and he said that he expected to be arrested last Tuesday. The grand jury considering the case is due to meet again on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Speaking in Waco, Trump said his enemies had "failed" and "only made us stronger." He added: "2024 is the final battle, it's going to be the big one. You put me back in the White House, their reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again."
His remarks came amid the anniversary of a 51-day stand-off in the central Texas city between members of federal law enforcement and a religious cult that resulted in the deaths of over 80 members of the group and four agents in 1993. The group's leader, David Koresh, told his followers that the rapture would arrive with a bloody battle against the authorities.
Democrats described Trump's rhetoric as dangerous, and Jones suggested that he would be killed if it became clear his remarks were gaining him popularity.
"Whether Trump is for real or not, the deep state hates his guts and is scared of him, because they see him as a power rival," the Infowars host said.
Jones argued Trump's fiery remarks were "not a good thing in action," but showed he was not being controlled by any unseen forces. "He's awake to what's happening and going on now, and I definitely like everything I'm hearing from Trump," he added.
"It was amazing," he continued. "More hardcore stuff said at that rally than had been said in the last 6-7 years of Trump combined—so Trump is definitely born-again hard, as they call it. I think they'll probably try and assassinate him or something, this is just insane."
Jones mentioned the assassination of Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, in July 2022, which he painted as a recent example of a conservative firebrand being killed. Abe was shot by Tetsuya Yamagami, who stated he had done so over connections between the politician and the Unification Church.
Referring to Trump, Jones said: "If it looks like he's about to win again, I think they're gonna shoot him. I think they're gonna blow his airplane up."
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign and the Secret Service for comment via email on Monday.
Jones went on to say that he was "certainly not lackadaisical that [Trump is] going to save us," but added that he "did a lot of good stuff" and asked his listeners: "What do we do other than Trump?" He went on to claim he was "better than [Ron] DeSantis," the Republican governor of Florida who is tipped to be a frontrunner in the Republican presidential field, but who has yet to declare.
According to a March 21 poll by Monmouth University, in a head-to-head race, 47 percent of Republicans would pick Trump to 46 percent who would choose DeSantis, a switch from a month ago when 53 percent would have chosen DeSantis to just 40 percent Trump.
However, his average favorability rating from a national outlook remains largely unchanged, with slightly more Americans taking an unfavorable view of the former president since the start of March, according to analysts FiveThirtyEight.
