> It's a conflict of interest that anyone serious would avoid.

You're putting the logical cart before the horse. The phrase "conflict of interest" by definition implies a perspective of a negative impact on one of said interests. An external observer who doubts what they say might view this as a conflict of interest (rightly so), but from the perspective of someone who genuinely believes the interests are aligned, it is not a conflict.

It's kind of funny but this is exactly some of the logic conspiracy theorists use to discredit authority: "Scientists profit from [vaccines/moon landing/whatever research] so therefore it is a conflict of interest when they [recommend/make policy/teach kids]"

Of course some people lie. But Jones? This guy has been doing this forever, he either is the most talented actor to ever walk the planet, or he is an idiot community college dropout with paranoia and confirmation bias. It is way more likely the latter.