#2911: Jon Gold

Oh, hey, this is an old one we bet most of you had forgotten. Jon Gold was one of the movers and shakers of the Truther movement back in the early 2000s, tirelessly promoting the work of various conspiracy theorists, giving interviews with various conspiracy (or somewhat baffled mainstream) media outlets, appearing on shows with people like Cynthia McKinney, and organizing protests and conferences such as the 2010 Treason in America event. As for his own positions, Gold was notable for his “just asking questions and demanding accountability” BS and would only rarely make concrete claims himself – instead mostly directing his audiences to conspiracy theorists who did – but he did in fact carry out some actions of protest: In 2011, for instance, he drew a decisive yawn from the world when he chained himself to the White House fence to demand accountability (his own report is hilarious: “One of the police rode their bike up to where we were sitting, and parked. He stood there for a minute or two, and then said, ‘are you Mr. Gold?’ I responded, ‘Yes, that’s me.’ He asked, ‘are you still planning on chaining yourself to the fence?’ I said, ‘that is my intention.’ He said, ‘I wish you wouldn’t.’ To me, it was clear intimidation, but lucky for me, I am one stubborn individual.”).

 

Inside truther circles, Gold was, however ,frequently reputiated and accused (e.g. by Kevin Barrett) of being a plant for his reluctance to endorse the anti-semitism that was part and parcel of the troofer movement. So it goes.

 

We have no idea what he’s up to these days, though he published a book, We Were Lied to About 9/11, in 2018 containing interviews with various conspiracy theorists. If you wish to get a feel for the character, he’s covered here. 

 

Diagnosis: He made some noise in his day, In hindsight, it all seems rather pitiful. Probably mostly forgotten.