A character modeled after radio host Alex Jones plots out a fake news narrative to slander a political rival in the latest episode of the Showtime series Homeland.
On the Sunday episode entitled “Alt.Truth,” Jones-styled radio host Brett O’Keefe (played by Jake Weber) obtains a tape showing the president’s son running to help rescue a fallen soldier during a gun battle.
After reviewing original footage with his producer, O’Keefe presents an edited version of the video he created portraying the president’s son instead as a coward running away from the battle.
“Just by cutting out the ending, the right-wing media personality turns a dead military hero into a coward, all for the sake of taking down a political figure,” Newsbusters.org notes.
Here’s a transcript of the excerpt:
Dar: Where on Earth did you get this?
O’Keefe: Well, this was the YouTube war, remember? This kid Rudy had a– a camera on his helmet. He caught the whole Goddamn thing.[Man] Move, move, move! [Gunfire, indistinct shouting] We’re taking too much fire! [Shouting continues]
O’Keefe: This is where it gets good.
Man: We got two down!
Andrew: Out of the way! Get out of my fucking way!
O’Keefe: Meet Andrew Keane, the only son of the President-Elect.
[Keyboard clacks] Out of the way! Get out of my fucking way! [Explosion] Medic, get over here! [Gunfire continues] Frank, come on, man! [Indistinct shouting] [Gunshot]
Man: Keane! Sir!
Dar: I don’t get it. He was trying to save their lives.
O’Keefe: Okay, this is something the boys put together. It’s rough, but…
Frank: This the truth, okay? This is the truth that no one wants to hear. Men died, buddies of mine died, for nothing. If you take a look at the casualties his battalion suffered, 40 dead, 87 wounded, ’cause Andrew Keane only cared about his career and how many ribbons he can pin on his chest. And he didn’t give a shit what he had to do to get ’em.
O’Keefe: But he did three tours. He must have taken some risks.
Rudy: We’d gone to search a warehouse in Sadr City. We had Intel it was a bomb factory. We had just gotten out of the vehicles when we got hit. It’s like they were waiting for us.
O’Keefe: What happened?
Rudy: We were pinned down, taking fire. Rpgs, snipers. So we returned fire.
O’Keefe: Captain Keane, what did he do?
Rudy: There was a lot of noise–
O’Keefe: But he was there, right? You saw him.
Rudy: Yes, sir.
O’Keefe: So what was he doing?
Rudy: He ran past me. He was shouting.
O’Keefe: He ran past you?
Rudy: Mm-hmm.
O’Keefe: Wait, you mean that he– he was running away?
Rudy: Yeah, he was running. That’s for sure.
O’Keefe: Doesn’t sound like a hero to me.
Rudy: No, sir. He was the opposite of a hero.
O’Keefe: Then we wrap it all up with something like… “Cowardice — it runs in the family.” Like I said, it’s rough, but I’m betting it’ll put an end to her Gold Star mom routine.
Dar: Is this the only copy of the footage?
O’Keefe: Yep.
Dar: Good. Run it again, would you?
Last month it was revealed the series had installed an Alex Jones-esque character on the show, complete with a job as a radio host and many of the phrases Jones regularly utters.
S6E5 of @SHO_Homeland showed us what would happen if you morphed @JamesOKeefeIII with @RealAlexJones. @infowars #tcot #HomelandSeason6 #BOOM pic.twitter.com/gOPE3CPLjH
— Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) February 21, 2017
The motives behind Homeland’s antics are clear – make Alex Jones out to be a purveyor and creator of fake news, make his audience out to be violent, paranoid and mentally ill, and poison Infowars’ reputation in the minds of viewers.
Homeland’s attack comes on the heels of a Saturday Night Live cold open skit in which President Donald Trump, played by actor Alec Baldwin, claimed he believed in racist rhetoric put out by Infowars and Alex Jones.
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