Brian Williams is not a man for irony. The disgraced MSNBC host, who in 2015 lost his NBC anchoring job because of repeated false statements and exaggerations about his own reporting, does not like the phrase "fake news." On Monday’s show, he repeatedly derided the use of these words as "pernicious” and “insidious.”
Talking about new accusations that Donald Trump misdirected a statement by his son on Russia, Williams seethed, “On top of that, we have the President's lawyers tonight using that insidious label fake news.”
Later, the journalist talked to former Senator Bob Kerrey. Kerrey complained, “To describe the news as fake encourages people not to believe anything.” Williams ranted, “Yeah, that’s pernicious.”
Except Williams IS the definition of fake news. He repeatedly, and falsely told of being in a Chinook helicopter that took fire from a rocket-propelled grenade. The ex-anchor pompously described the non-event as “Black Hawk Down meets Saving Private Ryan.”
In 2005, Williams told David Letterman, “Two of our four helicopters were hit by ground fire including the one I was in. RPG and AK-47's.” That didn't happen. One might call it “fake news.” Williams eventually admitted it.
Later on Monday’s show, Williams allowed MSNBC guest Richard Painter to slime Trump as something close to a Nazi leader:
To have the President of the United States repeatedly attacking the media, attacking his political opponent who lost the election, calling for prosecution of Hillary Clinton and surrounding himself with more generals in the White House. And he goes to the Boy Scouts and he is giving this highly charged political speech in front of uniformed teenagers as if he wants to turn that into some sort of Trump youth organization.
I mean, the signs of authoritarianism are staring us right in the face. If we don't acknowledge that this is a risky situation, and we continue to put up with this, what we could find is that if we are in a war or if the President wants to get us into a war, in order to solidify his control, that he could very, very quickly try to make himself into an authoritarian president or dictator.
Williams' only reaction was to marvel: “As we keep saying, no ordinary time for good reason.”
A partial transcript is below:
The 11th Hour
7/31/17
11:14pm ETBRIAN WILLIAMS: Richard, you tweeted something that really got our attention today. “Danger signs in any presidency. Lots of generals and civilian posts, authoritarian rhetoric, disdain for judges. Bigger risk in time of war.” On top of that, we have the President's lawyers tonight using that insidious label fake news.
RICHARD PAINTER (chief WH ethics lawyer, Bush 43 administration): Well, this is a very troubling situation. To have the President of the United States repeatedly attacking the media, attacking his political opponent who lost the election, calling for prosecution of Hillary Clinton and surrounding himself with more generals in the White House. And he goes to the Boy Scouts and he is giving this highly charged political speech in front of uniformed teenagers as if he wants to turn that into some sort of Trump youth organization.
I mean, the signs of authoritarianism are staring us right in the face. If we don't acknowledge that this is a risky situation, and we continue to put up with this, what we could find is that if we are in a war or if the President wants to get us into a war, in order to solidify his control, that he could very, very quickly try to make himself into an authoritarian president or dictator.
And this is not a safe situation for the United States. Congress, Democrats and Republicans together need to get a handle on how to deal with Donald Trump. As I say there are psychological issues here. He does not appear to be very well in the way he is responding to the matters. And all the warning signs are there. We saw that throughout the campaign. But it's just gotten worse and worse. And now he is being cornered on the Russia investigation. And that's where you are most likely to have trouble. Meanwhile we've got a nuclear threat in Korea. And he is the person who has the power to decide how to respond to that. And I'm — I'm quite frankly quite scared about in situation right now.
WILLIAMS: As we keep saying, no ordinary time for good reason.
11:42
BOB KERREY: There is clear and present evidence the Russians tried to interfere with our elections. We had an investigation going on. And he made a decision that he didn't like that investigation. So he got rid of Comey. And now he has a special counsel. He has Robert Mueller. Former United States Marine. Got tremendous integrity, tremendous capability. And at a minimum, he is going issue a report that's going to be unpleasant. And constantly saying that it's fake news. Now, you can disagree. I can say, “I don’t like what Brian Williams said about me. I don’t like what someone said about me.” But to describe the news as fake encourages people not to believe anything.
WILLIAMS: Yeah, that’s pernicious.
KERREY: It’s pernicious.
