Megyn Kelly of NBC News interviewed conservative talk show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in a show that broadcasted on Sunday. The two spoke about Jones’ style of reporting and the various conspiracy theories he has pushed through his outlet, Infowars, including the conspiracy theory that the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax.
However, when the first trailer of the interview was aired, Kelly’s decision to interview one of the world’s most renowned 9/11 “truthers” on her show, “Sunday night with Megyn Kelly,” was heavily criticized.
Hence, Kelly, in her monologue, addressed critics of the show.
“For years, Jones has been spreading conspiracy theories, claiming, for instance, that elements of the U.S. government allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen and that the horrific Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax,” she said. “Some thought we shouldn’t broadcast this interview because his baseless allegations aren’t just offensive, they’re dangerous. But here’s the thing: Alex Jones isn’t going away. Over the years, his YouTube channel has racked up 1.3 billion views. He has millions of listeners and the ear of our current president.”
In the interview, Kelly grilled Jones for his views on the Sandy Hook massacre for calling it “fake.”
“The whole thing is a giant hoax. How do you deal with a total hoax? It took me about a year, with Sandy Hook, to come to grips with the fact that the whole thing was fake. I did deep research. And my gosh, it just pretty much didn’t happen,” Jones had said on his program regarding the tragedy.
When Kelly inquired about his comments, Jones responded: “At that point, and I do think there’s some cover-up and some manipulation, which is pretty much what I believed. But then I was also going into devil’s advocate. But then we know there’s mass shootings, and these things happen. So again—”
“But you’re trying to have it all ways, right?” Kelly interjected.
“No, I’m not,” he said.
Kelly continued to press Jones, who argued that he “didn’t create that story.”
Jones also doubted the evidence of the shooting – emphasizing on the body of the victims.
“I remember, even that day, to go back from memory, then saying, ‘But then, some of it looks like it’s real,’” he said. “But then what do you do, when they’ve got the kids going in circles, in and out of the building with their hands up? I’ve watched the footage. And it looks like a drill.”
Jones added, “I tend to believe that children probably did die there. But then you look at all the other evidence on the other side. I can see how other people believe that nobody died there.”
Kelly responded, saying that there is absolutely no evidence to prove that the tragedy was fake.
Kelly then went on to talk about “pizzagate,” another one of Jones’ infamous conspiracy theories. Jones said that he had enough reason to believe Democrats were running a child-trafficking ring based out of a pizzeria located in Washington D.C. The claim, as expected, was baseless, and Jones was forced to apologize following the restaurant owner’s claims of a lawsuit against him.
The CNN then reported that following the Pizzagate’s popularity online, Edgar Welch, attacked the pizzeria to look for evidence of the child sex slaves which he thought were being kept there. He then surrendered after realizing all the reports surrounding the pizzeria were false. Welch also pleaded guilty to several gun-related charges.
A conservative political commentator, Charlie Sykes, while taking to Kelly, said that Jones “has injected this sort of toxic paranoia into the mainstream of conservative thought in a way that would have been inconceivable a couple of decades ago.”
“We’re talking about somebody who traffics in some of the sickest, most offensive types of theories,” Sykes said.