Williams Pleased Obama, Unlike Bush, Admitted He 'Screwed Up'

Change font size:  A |  A

NBC anchor Brian Williams, apparently still bristling over former President George W. Bush's failure to admit mistakes (at least in media interviews), twice in 24 hours felt it newsworthy to contrast Bush's reticence with President Barack Obama's “I screwed up” admission over the Tom Daschle nomination. On Tuesday's Hardball, following his interview with Obama, Williams relayed how the White House staff was “very proud that the President used three words today that we did not hear in that setting on the record over eight years of the last administration.”

Then, at the start of Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, Williams adopted the White House line as his own: “Yesterday, in the Oval Office, the President told us in the interview that he 'screwed up.' That's not something we're used to hearing from our President in recent years.”

Williams led the February 4 newscast:

Good evening. This was a different day at the Obama White House. Yesterday, in the Oval Office, the President told us in the interview that he “screwed up.” That's not something we're used to hearing from our President in recent years. He was talking about the tax problems of some of his nominees. But today, when he took on the topic of the economy, he took on the Republicans, reminding them he was the one elected President, and warning everybody of catastrophe if this economic fix isn't approved. We'll begin there tonight with our chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd.