By Thursday afternoon, much of the media had done what it could to rehabilitate the image of NBC anchor Brian Williams, and by Thursday night he was once again a sympathetic figure. CNN gave Williams’ story extensive coverage, with Jake Tapper interviewing Rich Krell, the pilot of Williams’ helicopter.
Pilot: Brian Williams' chopper took enemy fire, not RPG. "We were all scared," he says. http://t.co/zdFDd3hNmC pic.twitter.com/i9ZZOE7MnR
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 5, 2015
Meanwhile, Brian Stelter, host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” interviewed Krell for an online piece:
Krell said of Williams, “Yeah, he messed up some things and said some things he shouldn’t have. I [first] heard it a few years ago. … Actually one of my flight engineers said, ‘Did you hear him say that? Wasn’t he on our bird?'”
Krell didn’t seem overly bothered by Williams’ revisionist history — he chalked it up to wartime theatrics. “After a while, with combat stories, you just go ‘Whatever,'” he said.
The big news of the day, then? Williams was telling the truth about his helicopter taking fire. It was just small arms fire, though, not an RPG. And he wasn’t shot down. But he did take fire, technically, and that was probably scary, so shut up.
Helicopter pilot says Brian Williams' chopper did take fire in 2003 http://t.co/SpL6JPGO7G
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) February 5, 2015
Pilot to CNN: I flew Brian Williams that day; we took & received fire, just no RPGs http://t.co/Q797sAjghA
— Jon Fortt (@jonfortt) February 5, 2015
Recommended
https://twitter.com/NewsChopper4/status/563480850168164352
I believe @BWilliams, an honorable and trustworthy guy despite the mistake. And his chopper did take fire that day. http://t.co/7fGnSgvyV0
— John Bailey (@johnpatrickbail) February 6, 2015
Wait, the pilot flying Brian Williams' helicopter says it DID take fire. Sounds like Williams just conflated the small arms vs RPG.
— John Morrison (@localcelebrity) February 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/FlyOSUBuckeye1/status/563546341364625409
And thus, CNN declares it so.
Don't care what @CNN has to say about Brian Williams when they still employ compulsive plagiarist @FareedZakaria.
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) February 6, 2015
New York Post columnist Kyle Smith seems to be one of the few thinking it’s awfully strange that, despite the multiple allegations documented in Stars and Stripes, no one else has emerged to correct the record. That is weird.
@rkylesmith @jpodhoretz How long until someone mentions "swift-boating"?
— John Demeny (@wookawookafresh) February 6, 2015
Or hate. Politico’s Blake Hounshell can’t believe all of the pent-up hatred for a well-liked news anchor.
Never realized there was all this pent-up hatred for Brian Williams. He always seemed pretty down-the-middle and harmless to me.
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) February 6, 2015
.@blakehounshell You fail to see, that is EXACTLY why the (not pent up) hatred is out there. People trusted him. He lied to them all.
— Ben Jamin (@iminthegulag) February 6, 2015
@blakehounshell The hatred is not for Williams, but for his actions, taking credit for what patriots do without being recognized.
— Thomas Collado (@TomCollado) February 6, 2015
@blakehounshell Americans hate liars. Be they corporations, politicians, reporters, Presidents or simply the boy who cries wolf.
— Nicholas Augusta ✯ (@naugusta) February 6, 2015
@blakehounshell I hate his smug non apology and NBC doing nothing about it. His "misremembering of Katrina is now emerging. Bad journalism.
— ?❄️?milady mell?☮️ (@MiladyMell) February 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/jtinfo/status/563545362527318016
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