A new poll conducted by the conservative Media Research Center shows that a majority of Americans believe Brian Williams should resign as anchorman and managing editor of NBC’s “Nightly News.”
The poll says 71.6 percent of those surveyed say Williams, who is on a six-month unpaid suspension following his confession of fabulism, should resign. The longtime anchorman should have been fired already, 66.1 percent believe.
Williams confessed to claiming falsely that he was aboard a U.S. military aircraft downed by enemy fire in Iraq in 2003. The new poll, in which 61.6 percent of Americans say they are less likely to trust NBC if Williams returns as anchor, differs widely from a CNN poll earlier this week. Williams stepped down from the board of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation Thursday.
Williams was suspended last week, following his admission to telling the untrue story, with varying details, since 2003.
A separate CNN poll released Wednesday gave markedly different results, suggesting a majority of Americans still believe in Williams. According to CNN, 52 percent of Americans think Williams should return to anchor “Nightly News.” Williams’ daughter Allison Williams plays Marnie Michaels on the HBO comedy-drama series “Girls” and performed the title role in a celebrated December telecast of the musical “Peter Pan Live!”
