It's become abundantly clear that NBC News needs to pull Megyn Kelly's interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones before it airs this Sunday night.

Reason? There is absolutely no upside in providing Jones this kind of national platform on a network news magazine, particularly the kind that just debuted 15 days ago. As you probably know by now, Jones has maintained for years the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre that resulted in the murders of 20 young children never happened and that their grieving parents were simply actors in some kind of sick play.

How bad are the optics already? Sandy Hook parents are voicing their disgust on Twitter, including Nelba Márquez-Greene, who lost her daughter on that unthinkable day.

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Kelly sent a tweet noting that then-candidate Trump appeared on Jones's program in 2015. She also promised in the same tweet the exchange with Jones was "riveting," which triggered this response from Márquez-Greene.

I promise you it's not riveting. How you you feel if someone shot your kids, some fool said it wasn't true- and I gave him a show? https://t.co/xma9Z30IjW — Nelba Márquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) June 12, 2017 Márquez-Greene also notes that the interview will air on Father's Day. In @megynkelly 's America, cruelty gets u on national TV on Father's Day. #SandyHook grieving dads will go to the cemetery. #thisisnotnormal — Nelba Márquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) June 12, 2017 Nicole Hockley co-founded Sandy Hook Promise after losing her 6-year-old, Dylan.



"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," she said in a statement on Monday. "It is our hope that Megyn and NBC reconsider and not broadcast this interview." Márquez-Greene also notes that the interview will air on Father's Day.Nicole Hockley co-founded Sandy Hook Promise after losing her 6-year-old, Dylan."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," she said in a statement on Monday. "It is our hope that Megyn and NBC reconsider and not broadcast this interview."

Kelly, 46 and a mother of three young children, responded to Hockley. "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," Kelly wrote in a statement. "I find Alex Jones's suggestion that Sandy Hook was 'a hoax' as personally revolting as every other rational person does," she continued. "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.



"President Trump, by praising him and citing him, appearing on his show [in 2015], and giving him White House press credentials, has helped elevate Jones, to the alarm of many."



The White House has denied on two occasions that Jones's InfoWars was given press credentials despite the host's claims that he was provided them. InfoWars did gain a one-day press pass, however, which are relatively easy to obtain in this and past administrations.



"Our goal in sitting down with him was to shine a light – as journalists are supposed to do – on this influential figure, and yes, to discuss the considerable falsehoods he has promoted with near impunity," Kelly concluded. "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," Kelly wrote in a statement.

The headlines around the controversy are everywhere and has been one of the top trending stories on Twitter. J.P. Morgan has reportedly pulled its ads in protest. And you know how it works from here if recent precedent with Kelly's former colleague Bill O'Reilly is any indication: One major sponsor goes, others follow, network caves, film at 11.

One could argue that the controversy will only draw more viewers to the program, but at what cost?

NBC really needs to consider the damage this will do to Kelly's reputation in just her third episode at her new network. Critics – and there are many with few defenders – are calling the interview a cheap ratings grab for her show, "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly," a program that will air through the summer before disappearing for six months to make room for the top-rated Sunday Night Football.

With that backdrop around a show that won't be given the proper time to build a following before being taken off the air for extended period, it only makes the Jones interview even less worth airing – if that's possible at this point.