Trump Called 'Pigheaded' by Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones for Role in COVID-19 Vaccines

Former President Donald Trump was "pigheaded" for accelerating the development of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines during his presidency, according to Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Jones railed against Trump's role in developing the vaccines during a Tuesday interview on the Timcast podcast, which is hosted by pro-Trump commentator Tim Pool. Jones insisted that he does not "think Trump's a bad guy" before slating the former president for his role in Operation Warp Speed, a Trump administration initiative geared at developing and approving the vaccines quickly.

"I didn't get, like, money because I supported Trump, I didn't think Trump was perfect," Jones said. "I thought that he was more of a populist, better than what, you know we were being offered—with Hillary Clinton, who I know is evil. But now I almost see Trump as destructive because he becomes the opposition to Democrats but he's got his own issues."

"I don't think Trump's a bad guy but I want to be clear: at the end of the day, he went along with Warp Speed," he continued. "He went along with the experimental shot. And he's pigheaded and he won't admit he was wrong. So, I'm not going to criticize Biden and Pfizer for this, and Fauci, and then give Trump a pass."

Jones added that he regularly attends pro-Trump events and that supporters of the former president are "so upset" with him, lamenting that Trump is "so pigheaded" because he is "still going along with the vaccine." Trump has regularly spoken in favor of the vaccines, boasting of his role in the development of the shots, to at best mixed responses from his supporters.

Trump lamented that the vaccines were not approved quickly enough to boost his election chances despite Operation Warp Speed just before and shortly after his 2020 defeat to President Joe Biden. In April of this year, he suggested that the vaccines should be called the "Trumpcine" in a speech to his supporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

The former president also spoke in favor of the vaccines during multiple media appearances in August. Trump was booed by his own supporters after making pro-vaccine comments at a rally in Alabama during the same month. Trump noted that he had been vaccinated before describing the vaccines as "good" and telling the crowd, "I recommend take the vaccines."

Jones blasted Trump shortly after he urged his Alabama supporters to take the vaccine, saying, "shame on you, Trump" on Infowars and questioning whether the former president is "not that bright" but instead "actually a dumbass."

Popular podcast host Joe Rogan, who has spoken out against vaccines and promoted unproven coronavirus remedy Ivermectin after contracting the virus himself, also discussed Trump while appearing alongside Jones during the Tuesday Timcast.

Rogan pondered Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a successor to Trump, praising DeSantis—who has advocated against vaccine mandates and repeatedly eschewed public health restrictions—for making "great judgement choices" during the pandemic.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.