NEWTOWN GROUP BOOTS MEGYN KELLY
Sandy Hook group dumps Kelly for Jones interview
A NONPROFIT led by families scarred by the 2012 Newtown massacre booted NBC anchor Megyn Kelly — under fire for her soon-to-air interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — from hosting its annual Washington gala.
“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,” said Nicole Hockley, the foundation’s co-founder and mom of slain 6-year-old Dylan Hockley.
“It is our hope that Megyn and NBC reconsider and not broadcast this interview.”
The gun-violence prevention group and Fox News Channel alum had “agreed” upon their parting of ways, according to a statement from Sandy Hook Promise.
Jones has branded the Sandy Hook shooting a hoax and claimed that the 9/11 attacks were committed by the U.S. government.
Kelly, in response to the ouster from Wednesday’s event, said she respected the organizers’ decision — but stood by her earlier defense that the interview aimed to “shine a light” on an influence-wielding conspiracymonger touted by President Trump. “I understand and respect the decision of the event organizers but I’m of course disappointed that I won’t be there to support them on Wednesday night,” the anchor said in a statement on Tuesday.
“I find Alex Jones’ suggestion that Sandy Hook was ‘a hoax’ as personally revolting as every other rational person does.
“It left me, and many other Americans, asking the very question that prompted this interview: how does Jones, who traffics in these outrageous conspiracy theories, have the respect of the President of the United States and a growing audience of millions?”
Kelly’s pretaped sitdown with the far-right radio host — slated to air this Sunday — had drawn a massive rebuke from some of the victims’ families, advocacy groups and even Jones
himself, who claimed the interview
was “rigged” and that a preview clip
had been disingenuously edited.
NBC has stood by the interview,
with the newsmagazine show’s executive producer urging viewers to
“judge it when you see it.”
“We’re not just giving him a platform . . . Viewers will see Megyn do a strong interview where she challenges him appropriately,” Liz Cole told CNN.
“When someone actually sits down and asks him questions and he has to come up with answers — there’s value to that.”
Still, outrage continued to swell on Tuesday. Several families of the 20 students and six staffers murdered on Dec. 14, 2012, condemned Kelly for giving Jones the national stage.
Shannon Watts, who launched the gun-violence prevention group Moms Demand Action a day after the Newtown killings, called Kelly’s “shine a light” argument an “incredible misnomer.”
“The reality is he has his own . . . show; he’s on the radio; he has the ear of the President,” Watts told the Daily News. “What he doesn’t need is more exposure . . . We need to take the light off of Alex Jones and let him crawl back under the refrigerator.”