Brian Williams told an audience in 2008 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library that he was “fortunate” to have stood at the Brandenburg Gate the night the Berlin Wall came down.
Except there’s no way Williams was at the Brandenburg Gate when East and West Germans crossed the wall for the first time on Nov. 9, 1989. As CNN Money pointed out Thursday, Williams’ predecessor Tom Brokaw was the only American TV anchor to broadcast live on that momentous occasion.
CNN’s account is the latest in a growing list of anecdotes about his reporting that Williams seems to have misremembered at best or lied about at worst. Williams admitted earlier this month to telling a false story about being aboard a helicopter forced down by a rocket propelled grenade in Iraq in 2003, which prompted the network to launch an internal investigation into the that tall tale as well as Williams’ Hurricane Katrina reporting. NBC News then suspended Williams for six months without pay last weekend.
CNN Money reported that Williams said on at least two occasions that he personally witnessed “the night the wall came down.”
“I’ve been so fortunate,” Williams said during the 2008 speech. “I was at the Brandenburg Gate the night the wall came down.”
The “Nightly News” anchor would later repeat the story in Brokaw’s company at a gala honoring the retired newsman on Nov. 8, 2014.
“Here’s a fact: 25 years ago tonight, Tom Brokaw and I were at the Berlin Wall,” Williams said, as quoted by CNN Money.
But Williams said at another point during the gala that he was “very pissed off ’cause Tom had arrived [in Berlin] first,” according to the report.
An anonymous NBC News source “in a position to know” told CNN Money that Williams arrived in Berlin the day after the wall fell.
CNN Money noted in its report that Williams said in a 2004 interview that he “arrived at the Berlin Wall a day after — more like 12 hours after — Tom Brokaw did.” So Williams’ statements on witnessing “the night the wall came down” seem to fit with an apparent pattern Williams conflating his own experiences with others’ as he repeats a given anecdote over the years.
NBC News’ investigation into Williams is ongoing.
