USA Today Turns To Conspiracy Theorist Jerome Corsi To Advocate Arming Teachers

USA Today published an op-ed in favor of arming teachers today, and apparently, the best person they could get to take that stance was Jerome Corsi, the crackpot conspiracy theorist who works as a “journalist” for Infowars. USA Today presented Corsi as a legitimate “investigative reporter” with no mentions of his role spreading conspiracy theories, from the “Swift Boat” attacks on John Kerry to racist birther allegations about Barack Obama to his recent forays into the pedophilia-obsessed “Storm” conspiracy theories.

Today’s edition of USA Today included a column by Corsi titled “Arm qualified, willing teachers and staff,” in which Corsi argues that allowing teachers to bring concealed weapons into classrooms is a solution to school shootings. This is how USA Today identified Corsi at the end of the column:

Investigative journalist Jerome R. Corsi is author of Killing the Deep State: The Fight to Save President Trump.

What this short bio of Corsi conveniently omits, however, is Corsi’s employment with an outlet poised to be banned from YouTube after smearing Parkland shooting survivors as “crisis actors” and which achieved national infamy for conspiracy theories surrounding the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school. USA Today also fails to mention Corsi’s extensive history of making insane claims as a “journalist” with no proof whatsoever. Like his employer, Corsi has received a personal suspension from live streaming on YouTube and is one strike away from being banned for his reckless creation and promotion of conspiracy theories.

In 2004, Corsi wrote a book promoting unfounded “Swift Boat” claims that John Kerry had lied about his military service. As a “reporter” for the conspiracy theory outlet WorldNetDaily, Corsi later became a chief proponent of the “birther” conspiracy theory about Barack Obama, culminating in the publication of his book “Where’s the Birth Certificate?”

Since then, if it is even possible, Corsi has gone even further off the rails. In recent months, Corsi has been one of the most prominent purveyors of the “QAnon” conspiracy theory that alleges that a Trump administration official—or perhaps the president himself—is posting cryptic messages on 4Chan and 8Chan forum boards that reveal that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling is actually a cover for a massive crackdown on satanic pedophile rings. Corsi spends literally hours every day on a YouTube live stream with fellow “investigators” to muse about what the random postings could mean. He’s doing this, unsurprisingly, on behalf of Infowars

Some of Corsi’s recent work as an “investigative journalist” includes:

  • An unfounded claim that former Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia “was involved in pedophilia” and was murdered by a 13-year-old boy
  • Baseless speculation Barack and Michelle Obama’s recently unveiled paintings contained secret symbols of “the pedophilia they’re engaging in.”
  • The assertion that a plane crash in Russia that killed 71 people was a “CIA hit” to cover up the Uranium One scandal.
  • The claim that the crash of a train that was carrying Republican members of Congress was a “false flag terror attack.”
  • A suggestion that Rep. Adam Schiff is being blackmailed for involvement in pedophilia.
  • Promises that when the Trump administration finally unveils its supposed work taking down satanic pedophile rings, that we’ll see films of “global elites” butchering children.
  • And of course, the objectively insane claim that a blurry photo of an ink pen is irrefutable proof that “QAnon” is an authentic source in the Trump administration.

Update: USA Today has updated Corsi’s column online to include that he is the Washington Bureau chief of Infowars.