Megyn: Perilous to ignore Jones

Megyn Kelly’s interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones finally aired Sunday night — opening with a defiant statement from the NBC host, noting the public outrage and explaining why the network chose to air the piece anyway.

“For years, Jones has been spreading conspiracy theories, claiming, for instance, that elements of the US government allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen and that the horrific Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax,” Kelly (inset) explained.

“Some thought we shouldn’t broadcast this interview because his baseless allegations aren’t just offensive, they’re dangerous,” she said. “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.” The 20-minute sit-down with the Infowars radio host aired during Kelly’s new show, “Sunday Night,” despite calls by those affected by Sandy Hook to cancel the broadcast.

Much of what viewers saw had already been shown in clips that NBC released in the days leading up to the broadcast, including a portion of Jones and Kelly’s discussion about the 2012 shooting and whether he still thought it was a hoax.

Jones had already posted audio portions of the interview to social media.