Media reporter Howie Kurtz talked about the Brian Williams affair last night with Fox News’s Megyn Kelly:
The story is “completely untrue,” said Kurtz, “and it is very difficult for me to fathom why Brian Williams, the anchor of the top-rated network newscast, the face of NBC News, would tell the story on the air at this ceremony about being shot down back in 2003 in a helicopter over Iraq. Yes, he was in a helicopter over Iraq, and as he accurately reported 12 years ago, another chopper was hit by an RPG and went down. His helicopter landed perhaps an hour later, according to what some veterans are telling Stars and Stripes newspaper–they did not like Williams saying he was on the chopper that was hit. It was a sandstorm and he was grounded for a couple days.
“I give him credit for going to Iraq, he’s been there a couple times. But it is very difficult for me to understand, and he has now apologized and blamed the fog of memory. But come on, if your helicopter was shot down, that’s a life changing event. It either happened or didn’t happen. It’s very hard for me to understand how he could make that mistake. And I have to be candid and say, it’s a major blow to his credibility and that of his network.”
Kurtz added, “I think there will be tremendous fallout on this given Brian Williams’s prominence as an anchor, he’s the longest serving network news anchor. And you know if it had been a question of where a couple details were exaggerated or fudged, I think people would be willing to forgive that.”
