Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has suggested Democrats in Houston purposely decided against ordering a full-scale evacuation before Hurricane Harvey made landfall last week in order to personally complicate matters for President Trump.
Mr. Jones blasted Houston Democrats including Mayor Sylvester Turner during a recent broadcast of his radio and internet program and all but accused city officials of consciously conducting their emergency preparation efforts in a manner meant to reflect poorly on the Republican president.
“Is he just completely negligent, insane — the mayor there — or is Sylvester Turner conscious of what he’s doing and they’re wanting to blame Trump so they want to make the disaster as bad as possible?” Mr. Jones said during Monday’s broadcast, as first noted by the Right Wing Watch website.
“Is it complete ineptitude or is it part of a plan?” he asked
Mr. Turner’s decision not to order a full evacuation before Hurricane Harvey made landfall late Friday has been called into question by Democrats and Republicans alike, and emergency personnel have rescued thousands of people across the greater Houston area in the wake of Harvey dropping several feet of rain across southeastern Texas.
“There was a lot of conversation about the direction in which Hurricane Harvey was going to go,” he said Sunday. “No one knew which direction it was going to go. So it’s kind of different to send people away from danger when you don’t know where the danger is.”
Mr. Jones has frequently accused Democrats of conspiring against the Trump administration, and earlier this month he insisted that holdovers from the Obama administration — the so-called “deep state” — planned to assassinate the president in the coming months.
“Folks, they are going to blow the president’s head off, they are going to bomb him,” Mr. Jones said. “They are getting ready.”
About 45 million people listen to Mr. Jones each week through his broadcasts and Infowars website, by his own accounting. Mr. Trump notably appeared on his program in 2015 and told Mr. Jones: “Your reputation is amazing.”
Earlier this week, meanwhile, Mr. Jones suggested he influenced Mr. Trump’s decision to pardon convicted former lawman Joe Arpaio last week.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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