Disgraced former NBC anchor Brian Williams on Thursday morning compared the Attorney General to a former Iraqi propaganda minister. Williams, who falsely claimed he was shot down over Iraq in 2003, slimed Bill Barr as just like Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, better known as Baghdad Bob.
Showcasing just how the conventional wisdom goes inside MSNBC, Williams mocked, “It's already been mentioned around here, though it would harken back to a conflict decades ago, we would not be surprised if some headline writer somewhere came up somewhere with Baghdad Bill Barr for what we saw today.”
Williams, who once told dramatic tales of being attacked by gangs and seeing dead bodies during Hurricane Katrina, questioned someone else’s character: “After a long career in the law, the Attorney General would have to reconcile himself to the fact that this will be how his reputation is set in legal history again at the age of 68.”
Awaiting the release of the Mueller Report text, Williams made it clear how he feels about Barr: Having taken one publicly for the team, does Barr’s influence fall of a cliff in the next hour.”
Again, just to be clear, Brian Williams is calling out someone else for falsehoods and questionable character.
A partial transcript below. Click "expand" to read more:
MSNBC Live coverage
4/18/1910:10 AM ET
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Having taken one publicly for the team, does Barr’s influence fall of a cliff in the next hour.
WILLIAMS: After a long career in the law, the attorney general would have to reconcile himself to the fact that this will be how his reputation is set in legal history again at the age of 68.
10:26
BRIAN WILLIAMS: It's already been mentioned around here, though it would harken back to a conflict decades ago, we would not be surprised if some headline writer somewhere came up somewhere with Baghdad Bill Barr for what we saw today. I'll read you four different quotes. "Put another way, the special counsel found no collusion by any Americans." Quote two: "In other words, there was no evidence of Trump campaign collusion with the Russian government hacking." Quote three: "After finding no underlying collusion with Russia, the special counsel's report goes on to consider whether certain actions of the president could amount to obstruction." And quote four: "Yet as he, Donald Trump, said from the beginning there was, in fact, no collusion." You and others have pointed out this word "collusion" is not a term in the law.
JOYCE VANCE: It's not a term in the law, but it's clear that as the Attorney General Bill Barr knows how to speak the president's language and is speaking to an audience larger than an audience of one. But this certainly resonates with the president.
...
VANCE: Barr's participation will in many ways make people less certain about this out come and it is a sad day for all of us.
WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's been said before, the questions are out there whether or not he views the president as his client or the people of the United States of America.
