Megyn Kelly challenged Alex Jones‘ conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the Manchester terror attack, among others, in an NBC News interview that aired on Sunday, June 18. Watch the highlights in the video above.
During a 17-minute segment on Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly, the journalist, 46, repeatedly pressed the Infowars host, 43, on his baseless claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, which left 20 children and six adults dead, was a hoax.
![Megyn Kelly Alex Jones](/wp-content/uploads/megyn-kelly-alex-jones-15afe5dd-5312-48bb-b7a0-bc85b4525fc6.jpg?w=1000&quality=70&strip=all)
“I do think there is cover-up and manipulation, that’s pretty much what I believed,” Jones said of his controversial 2014 comments about the shooting. “But then I was also going into devils’ advocate. But then we know there’s mass shootings, and these things happen. … I tend to believe that children probably did die there.”
“You’re trying to have it all ways,” Kelly shot back. In a voiceover, she noted that Jones “never completely disavowed his previous statements” during their conversation, later describing his comment as a “reckless accusation, followed by equivocations and excuses.”
The former Fox News anchor also interviewed Neil Heslin, a father whose 6-year-old son, Jesse, was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. “It’s disrespectful to me,” Heslin said of Jones’ comments. “I did lose my son. And the 26 other families lost someone. And I take that very personal.”
Kelly and Jones later discussed the May 22 suicide bombing that occurred at Ariana Grande‘s Manchester concert. Jones called the victims, many of whom were young children and teenagers, “liberal trendies, the same people — God love them — on average who are promoting open borders, bringing Islamists in.”
Leading up to Sunday’s controversial interview, many people denounced Kelly and NBC News for giving airtime to the conservative radio personality. An NBC affiliate in Connecticut, the state where Sandy Hook Elementary School is located, even announced that it would not air the segment. At the beginning of the show, Kelly addressed the scandal.
“Some thought we shouldn’t broadcast this interview because [Jones’] baseless allegations aren’t just offensive, they’re dangerous,” she told viewers. “But here’s the thing: Alex Jones isn’t going away.”
Hours before the program aired, Jones released a Father’s Day video message on YouTube, in which he addressed the Sandy Hook parents but did not apologize to them. He previously called his sit-down with Kelly a “fraud” and leaked one of their pre-interview conversations because he felt the segment was unfairly edited.