{"id":32564,"date":"2017-06-19T04:56:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T04:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=32564"},"modified":"2017-06-19T04:56:02","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T04:56:02","slug":"megyn-kelly-has-tough-questions-for-alex-jones-but-doesnt-push-for-hard-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/entertainment\/megyn-kelly-has-tough-questions-for-alex-jones-but-doesnt-push-for-hard-answers.html","title":{"rendered":"Megyn Kelly has tough questions for Alex Jones but doesn’t push for hard answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Megyn Kelly has tough questions for Alex Jones but doesn’t push for hard answers<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Megyn Kelly gave fake news radio host and far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones \u2014 a man who made a name for himself claiming that the 2012 massacre of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax, that Hillary Clinton ran a child sex-trafficking ring out of a pizza parlor and that the U.S. government was in on the 9\/11 attacks, among other claims \u2014 nearly 20 minutes of air time. Prime time. Sunday night. On NBC.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s 10 more minutes (an eternity in TV-news segment time) than Russian President Vladimir Putin got during the debut of her NBC show, \u201cSunday Night With Megyn Kelly,\u201d this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even before it aired, the interview with Jones caused an uproar among viewers, advertisers and parents of the slain children, who demanded that Kelly cut Jones from her hour-long show.<\/span><\/p>\n

The concern was that it would legitimize the dangerous figure whose fabricated stories had inspired Sandy Hook deniers to harass and threaten the children\u2019s parents and a gunman to show up at the aforementioned pizza parlor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelly responded to the criticisms, saying she felt it was important to \u201cshine a light\u201d on Jones. But come Sunday, that light was a dim bulb at best.<\/span><\/p>\n

Early on, Kelly asked her interviewee to address the comments he\u2019d made on his radio show regarding the deadly bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, last month.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou said it was \u2018liberal trendies\u2019 who were killed,\u201d she said. \u201cBut many of the victims were kids.\u2026 You would suggest an 8-year-old was a \u2018liberal trendy\u2019?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones rambled out a senseless, word salad of an answer that cleared up absolutely nothing. \u201cI got home at, like, 6, heard about it. The ages of the victims weren\u2019t even known. But they were saying it was jihadi. And I said, \u2018How crazy is it that liberal trendies are now the victims?\u2019 And then I start going and looking. Of course, if there\u2019s kids being killed by Muslims, I\u2019m not saying that it\u2019s their fault. Of course, if kids are the victims, I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s their fault.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And she left it at that. No follow-up. Just this narrated segue from Kelly: \u201cThat pattern, reckless accusations followed by equivocation and excuses, is classic Alex Jones.\u201d Kelly too was aware that her pointed questions weren\u2019t going to get answers. So, really, what was she hoping to achieve?<\/span><\/p>\n

There were reports that NBC had reedited the interview after the public outcry, possibly to make Kelly appear tougher than she had in those much-maligned teasers and to put more context around Jones\u2019 comments.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there was no changing the basic fact that they\u2019d chosen a sit-down interview with him, a format usually reserved for heads of state, major news figures or celebrities, not a fringe figure who thinks the biggest story of the day is human-animal hybrid experiments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much of the segment on Jones, which was about a third of the show, was spent justifying just why they decided to stick with him as their featured guest.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has spent nearly two decades on the fringe, shouting his conspiracy theories in front of any microphone he could get in front of,\u201d Kelly said in an intro that included clips of Jones on his YouTube show.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe and his company Infowars have been steadily gaining followers for years, including radio shows and webcasts which reach millions a month. But Jones\u2019 influence hit new heights when he attracted a very famous fan, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She asks Jones if he thinks Trump is watching.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know Trump sees the clips of things,\u201d he answers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hardly a bombshell.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Kelly and her team did find indications of Trump repeating Infowars stories in his campaign speeches \u2014 as dozens of outlets have been reporting since 2015. (Maybe next week they\u2019ll do a reveal on his reliance on Breitbart News and how one of their fellows, Steve Bannon, has made it into the White House!)<\/span><\/p>\n

Without much of any original reporting of her own, Kelly let tough questions just be tough questions, rather than seek accountability from Jones in his answers.<\/span><\/p>\n

She did bring in an NBC political analyst to speak about the danger of Jones\u2019 fabricated and incendiary claims, and the parent of a slain Sandy Hook child who heartbreakingly spoke of holding his murdered son in his arms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment\/tv\/la-et-st-megyn-kelly-alex-jones-nbc-20170618-story.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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