Bill Maher On Brian Williams: Fake Iraq Story Perfect For Fox News
Bill Maher weighed in on the Brian Williams scandal, quipping that his fake Iraq story might get him fired from NBC, but he’s already got a new offer from Fox News.
Brian Williams is a regular on comedy shows. He was once the star of the Daily Show segment, “The Giant Head of Brian Williams,” where he would endlessly berate host Jon Stewart for his lack of journalistic expertise and honesty. Now, he’s the one being questioned.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Williams has been saying that, during the Iraq War, he was in a helicopter which was brought down by enemy RPG fire, narrowly escaping death.
A story that was false.
Soldiers discovered the prominent newscaster’s exaggeration and called him out. It seems that Brian Williams wasn’t in the helicopter; he arrived an hour after the crash. To be fair, he at least rode in a helicopter to the scene of the wreckage.
The fake story, which Williams has been telling for the past 12 years, is now the subject of a serious internal investigation at NBC News.
For Bill Maher, it’s the subject of a few pretty popular monologue jokes.
“It happens to all of us. We misplace our keys, have trouble with people’s names, we can’t remember if the helicopter we were in crashed!”
Maher also got in a jab at Fox News, a regular punchline for the late night comedian.
“And now people want Brian Williams to resign, but it could have a happy ending, because apparently what he said was such a blatant departure from the truth. today he got an offer from Fox News!”
According to CNN, Williams has apologized for the fake stories, but that might not be enough to save the journalist’s job. As for Bill Maher and Fox News, the Williams joke is one of the nicer things the comedian has said about the cable news channel.
Maher once said that Fox News was the cause of America’s current state of political polarization.
“I feel like the reason people are so polarized is Fox News. I think of all the things that changed America, Fox News changed the most.”
The comment provoked a counter-attack by Fox News pundits.
For Brian Williams, things are likely to get worse before they get better. His Iraq story isn’t the only anecdote being scrutinized. Reports about Katrina are also under the microscope. According to the Daily Mail, one tale about catching dysentery while doing the hurricane coverage also seems highly unlikely in retrospect.
[Image Credit: David Shankbone/Wikimedia Commons]
