"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 said in a statement Tuesday

Megyn Kelly has responded to the backlash of her controversial interview with Alex Jones — and the news that she will no longer be hosting the Sandy Hook Promise Champions Gala on Wednesday.

“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 says in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “I find Alex Jones’s 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?”

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“President Trump, by praising and citing him, appearing on his show, and giving him White House press credentials, has helped elevate Jones, to the alarm of many,” she continues. “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, 46, first previewed a clip of her interview with Jones — the conspiracy theorist and Infowars host, who has stated the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, which left 20 first-graders and six adults dead, was a hoax — on the most recent episode of Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly. The full sit-down is set to air this Sunday.

WATCH: Megyn Kelly No Longer Hosting Sandy Hook Benefit Due to Alex Jones Interview

The teaser and a corresponding promotional selfie of Kelly and Jones was met with widespread criticism and outrage on social media, and on Monday, Sandy Hook Promise, a leading gun violence prevention organization, released a statement announcing that the NBC host would no longer emcee the organization’s annual gala on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

“This decision was spurred by NBC’s planned broadcast of Kelly’s interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who believes the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT, was a hoax,” the statement read.

“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, co-Founder and Managing Director. “It is our hope that Megyn and NBC reconsider and not broadcast this interview.”

Additionally, J.P. Morgan Chase pulled local TV and online advertisements from NBC until after Kelly’s interview with Jones airs, according to The Wall Street Journal.