Republican TX elections chief blasts 'nuts' peddling 2020 conspiracy theories — and zooms in on Alex Jones

On Monday, Texas Monthly published an interview with Texas Secretary of State John Scott, the top elections official in the state. In the interview, he tore apart the "nuts" questioning the integrity of the 2020 election — and zoomed in particularly on Alex Jones, the Austin-based conspiracy theorist webcaster behind Infowars.

"Any time the temperature gets turned up, it’s possible to have nuts making these statements," said Scott. "At least in our office, what I was told is that these threats long preceded the 2020 election. The Infowars guy has unleashed hell on our election people. This has been going on for many years. And I don’t want to give a free pass to people who are crazy enough to go out there and say they’re going to kill somebody because they’re doing their job. I don’t want to give them an excuse — 'Oh, well, it’s because somebody said something.' No, that behavior is unacceptable under any scenario. Just because somebody said something, or they saw something on TV, that doesn’t excuse it."

This comes as threats and harassment escalate against election officials around the country, and in Texas particularly; recent incidents caused the entire elections staff of Gillespie County to resign from their posts.

Scott also didn't mince words when asked whether President Joe Biden was legitimate. "Absolutely. I’ve never hesitated on that answer. Joe Biden’s been the president, he is the president, and will be the president for two more years. If he wins the next election, he’ll be president for the next four years."

"I think the role of the Secretary of State is to be the voice of reason," he added. "I am trying to bring calm to the situation. I don’t know how you do that other than putting yourself in the middle. I do get rocks from both sides. I wish I could say it was one side more than the other. But it’s a small portion of both sides that are throwing the rocks. And that’s the comforting thing."

Jones, in addition to being investigated by the House January 6 Committee, is facing multiple civil suits over his repeated claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting was a false flag operation staged with child actors. He was already found liable for nearly $50 million in both compensatory and punitive damages by a jury in Austin, and a separate trial is currently underway in Connecticut.

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