Eleven years after he “shocked the world,” our flamboyant former governor aims to do it again, with a new series debuting this month on TruTV (formerly CourtTV): Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. The show finds him poking into claims of cover-ups, secret societies, and the like. He says he’d rather be surfing—but that the public needs to know the truth.
The show’s publicity talks of midnight meetings and shifty characters. What kind of trouble do you get into?
All I can tell you is that it’s the scariest stuff I’ve dealt with in a long time. It’s not a documentary per se—it’s set up to entertain. But it’s an alternative to what you’ve been told, backed up by a great deal of evidence. Whether it’s true or not is up to the viewer.
You’ve asked these kinds of questions before—about 9/11, for example—and been taken to task. Why is that?
People claim they want to know the truth, but I don’t believe they really do. I asked questions about 9/11 and the media attacked me. Why am I being forced to do your job by asking these questions? I should be asking you about 9/11.
You’ve been on the inside of the government. Do you know something most of us don’t?
I’m only as inside as an independent can be—I’m the enemy. I’m as welcome in politics as a you-know-what in the swimming pool.
Many of the policies you enacted as governor—a flat fee for vehicle registration, property tax reform—are now being rolled back by the Legislature. What’s your take?
They want any memory of me gone. They want to pretend I never happened.
