Megyn Kelly presses Alex Jones on Sandy Hook denial

Megyn Kelly’s controversial interview with 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 U.S. government allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen and that the horrific Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax,” Kelly explained in her intro.

“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. We begin our report with his reaction to the recent terrorist attack in Manchester, England.”

The 20-minute sit-down with the Infowars radio host aired during Kelly’s new show, “Sunday Night” — despite countless calls from people affected by the Sandy Hook massacre to remove it from the episode.

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

The network did include some shocking statements, though, that the conspiracy theorist made about the tragedy — which weren’t included in the preview.

“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,” Jones said at one point, in reference to Sandy Hook.

“I will sit there on the air and look at every position and play devil’s advocate,” he explained. “I remember, even that day, to go back from memory, then saying, ‘But then, some of it looks like it’s real.’ 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.”

Kelly’s interview with Jones — which was edited by NBC last week as a result of the backlash — included an added interview with one of the parents who lost a child that December day in 2012.

“The families say that Jones’ words have caused lasting pain, and they fear the harassment will continue,” Kelly said in the voice track before the piece with the parent aired.

“You know, it’s disrespectful to me where in fact I did lose my son. And the 26 other families lost somebody. And I take that very personal,” explained Neil Heslin, who lost his son in the shooting.

“You know this piece is going to air on Father’s Day,” Kelly told him.

“Correct,” he said.

“What is your message to [Jones]?” Kelly replied.

“I think he’s blessed to have his children to spend the day with, to speak to. I don’t have that,” Heslin said.

The interview with Jones comes after several days of back and forth between him and Kelly, who repeatedly defended the network’s decision to air the sit-down.

Jones revealed last Thursday that he chose to record the Q&A, and later posted portions of the audio to social media.