Williams said he was not aboard a helicopter that was hit by enemy fire and forced down — a story he retold as recently as last week during a televised tribute to a retired soldier during a New York Rangers hockey game.
On “NBC Nightly News” Wednesday evening, Williams read a 50-second statement apologizing for his characterization of the episode.
“After a groundfire incident in the desert during the Iraq war invasion, I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago,” he said. “It did not take long to hear from some brave men and women in the air crews who were also in that desert. I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by [rocket-propelled grenade] fire. I was instead in a following aircraft. . . . This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and, by extension, our brave military men and women, veterans everywhere, those who have served while I did not.”
NBC News and MSNBC have always been comfortable peddling false narratives. No one should be surprised by the Brian Williams story.
— Ken Gardner (@kesgardner) February 5, 2015
Make or break for @comcast and failing @nbc @NBCNews. They either abandon their destructive partisanship or die. pic.twitter.com/SQzTVJmuXb
— Brad Thor (@BradThor) February 5, 2015
Watch Brian Williams go on Letterman 10 years later. He repeats his fable with obvious practice. https://t.co/sqXMhJQfI9
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) February 5, 2015
Kurtz: 'Very Hard to Understand' How Brian Williams Could Mistake Iraq Experience http://t.co/T1JURL34ws
— Fox Nation (@foxnation) February 5, 2015
Video: Brian Williams vividly recounted false Iraq helicopter story to David Letterman in 2013 http://t.co/DIuHdZu9re pic.twitter.com/PgE6Y99iJ1
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 5, 2015
2004 C-SPAN clip shows Williams being introduced with false Iraq story at panel discussion [update] http://t.co/T4oP8QXRU9
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) February 5, 2015
Brian Williams’ Lies Didn’t Happen in a Corporate Vacuum: “Over a Decade, a Reporter’s War ... http://t.co/RLpxAquirS #tcot #hewitt #pjm
— Ed Driscoll (@EdDriscoll) February 5, 2015
Hinderaker on Williams. Must read. http://t.co/6nA73JL5cW @powerlineblog @93wibc
— Tony Katz (@tonykatz) February 5, 2015
.@variety exclusive: Source says NBC execs told @BWilliams to stop telling the #ChopperWhopper years ago http://t.co/SY0E7Kve61
— LeContredicteur (@AceofSpadesHQ) February 5, 2015
The pilot I interviewed on Thursday about Brian Williams is no longer standing by his story. http://t.co/GyYahQAAVl
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 6, 2015
The pilot who defended Williams yesterday deleted his Twitter account and is now recanting his story http://t.co/JlhaHnrKeA
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) February 6, 2015
CNN Burned: Stelter Retracts Williams' Pilot Story; Misled By NBC? - Breitbart http://t.co/MtGWxRzt1Q via @BreitbartNews
— Matthew Boyle (@mboyle1) February 6, 2015
More trouble for Brian Williams as questions raised on Katrina coverage: http://t.co/zhExJmkdAu pic.twitter.com/wtXX5Igqmj
— The Hill (@thehill) February 6, 2015
Want a sense of how corrupt our press is? Forget Brian Williams. Look at how two days covering the Crusades memory-holed a man set on fire.
— Will Antonin (@Will_Antonin) February 11, 2015
Brian Williams suspended six months without pay for false story http://t.co/E2faaMyOK6 pic.twitter.com/OqlZT6VxZy
— The Hill (@thehill) February 11, 2015