Former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw appeared on FNC’s Hannity Monday night to promote his memoir but when the subject of Brian Williams’ suspension was brought up, he insisted that “almost all” of the stories about the two of them were “wrong.”
Brokaw maintained that he and Williams do not keep in touch much but suggested that “he is now at a point where he's, I gather, trying to decide how it is that he's going to respond.”
While the former NBC anchor claimed that the stories about he and Williams were “almost all” “wrong” he and Sean Hannity never got around to discussing what stories about the two NBCers were accurate. Instead, Brokaw stressed the need to let the “process” play out:
We have a process under way in fairness to Brian -- and by the way, we've always had cordial relationships. In fairness to him and his family, we need to let the process play out. And there's been way too much speculation. I read things attributed to me or what my state of mind is -- completely wrong, almost all of them. I hope that this can get worked out to the advantage of everybody, but we've got to let the process play out.
After Hannity observed that the “media’s been particularly tough” on Williams “which surprised" him, Brokaw attributed it to “the profusion of social media is that if you get any kind of a name, and it has nothing to do with philosophy or personality, if it’s a name that everyone recognizes, they’re going to punch it out there because they think it’ll bring in viewers.”
Despite Brokaw now calling for the “process” to play out surrounding Brian Williams’ suspension, when the initial story first broke he called is a “really, really serious case."
See relevant transcript below.
FNC’s Hannity
05/11/2015
SEAN HANNITY: You spent your whole career with NBC. We have all this news about Brian Williams. Do you stay in touch with him?
TOM BROKAW: No. I -- well, stay in touch with him, no. I mean, he is now at a point where he's, I gather, trying to decide how it is that he's going to respond. And my answer to all of these questions is always the same. We have a process under way in fairness to Brian -- and by the way, we've always had cordial relationships. In fairness to him and his family, we need to let the process play out. And there's been way too much speculation. I read things attributed to me or what my state of mind is -- completely wrong, almost all of them. I hope that this can get worked out to the advantage of everybody, but we've got to let the process play out.
HANNITY: You know, you see what’s happening to him and his family. And I’m watching it from the distance, and media’s been particularly tough on him, which surprised me because I thought he was very well liked. And then you wonder, knowing this business as well as we do, you wonder if maybe people are seeking revenge a little bit here against him, and there’s a certain delight when somebody in a position of power falls.
BROKAW: Yes, I don’t know. I’m -- it would be hard for me to assign motivation. I just think what happens with the profusion of social media is that if you get any kind of a name, and it has nothing to do with philosophy or personality, if it’s a name that everyone recognizes, they’re going to punch it out there because they think it’ll bring in viewers.
HANNITY: I’ve lived that.
BROKAW: We all have. Listen, I was in an auto accident a couple of years ago with my wife. And I said, Watch this. The next morning -- it was a very serious auto accident. We were on a thousand different sites -- animal husbandry, Tom Brokaw in auto accident. And then everybody feels free to comment whatever they want to say, and some of it was pretty unattractive, I got to say.
