NBC News’ Megyn Kelly has responded to critics who don’t think the network should air an interview with “Info Wars” host Alex Jones, saying her goal is to “shine a light” on why people are attracted to his “outrageous conspiracy theories.”
The Sandy Hook Promise, a leading gun violence prevention organization, has scrapped plans for Kelly to emcee an upcoming gala because of the interview with Jones, who has questioned the authenticity of the Sandy Hook attack. Kelly took to Twitter on Tuesday with reaction to the backlash.
Here is my statement regarding Sunday night’s interview: pic.twitter.com/iS2VfyLt6S
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) June 13, 2017
“Kelly will no longer host the organization’s annual Promise Champions Gala on Wednesday, June 14th, in Washington DC. This decision was spurred by NBC’s planned broadcast of Kelly’s interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who believes the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT, was a hoax,” the Sandy Hook Promise said in a statement.
Jones’ promotion of several controversial conspiracy theories has also resulted in JP Morgan Chase pulling ads from the network, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Sandy Hook Promise cannot support the decision by Megyn or NBC to give any form of voice or platform to Alex Jones and have asked Megyn Kelly to step down as our Promise Champion Gala host,” added Sandy Hook Promise co-founder Nicole Hockley. “It is our hope that Megyn and NBC reconsider and not broadcast this interview.”
Ironically, Alex Jones doesn’t want the interview to air either — he claims Kelly misrepresented his thoughts on Sandy Hook. In a live stream on Monday afternoon, Jones said that Kelly lied to him, and promised that the interview would not be about Sandy Hook or other conspiracies.
“Megyn Kelly lied to me several weeks before she came here,” he said. “She said that the interview was not going to be about Sandy Hook and the mass shooting there, and it was not going to be about Pizzagate and these other issues that the media always obsesses on and misrepresents what I’ve said and what I’ve done.”
During the promo for the interview that has caused such a firestorm, Jones said that they did not include him saying he believed children died at Sandy Hook. “They had it edited where it sounded like I said nobody [died]… and that’s why I’m calling for the piece not to air next Sunday on Father’s Day.”