Chuck Todd: Brian Williams is ‘mortified’

Chuck Todd, the host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said news anchor Brian Williams is “mortified” by his admission that he was not on a military helicopter that was shot by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq.

“I’m uncomfortable talking about it, simply because I haven’t talked to Brian personally yet. I kind of would rather talk to him first,” Todd said on a podcast with the Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis.

“I know he’s mortified by this, and even more mortified because, the last group of people he wants to offend are veterans, and that’s stinging him the most.”

On his Tuesday show, Williams honored a retiring veteran who he said led the effort to keep the anchor and his crew alive during the rocket attack in 2003. But by Wednesday, Williams had recanted, saying he “made a mistake” after Stars and Stripes reported the story was false.

“I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft. We all landed after the ground fire incident and spent two harrowing nights in a sandstorm in the Iraq desert,” Williams said on Wednesday.

“This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and, by extension, our brave military men and women.”

“I hope they know that they have my greatest respect and now my apology.”

Williams had repeated the story frequently over the years, including during an appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman” in 2013.

Todd added during his podcast appearance that Williams is having a tough time “dealing with” the mistake and its fallout. He cautioned that the episode shows some of the ills of social media, where the anchor has been trending with the #BrianWilliamsMisremembers hashtag.

“You know the environment that we live in, there is now a premium to get his scalp,” Todd said.

“I don’t think anybody wants to be judged on their worst day.”

A follow up story in Stars and Stripes found that some soldiers claim a sandstorm forced down the helicopter Williams was in, not enemy fire.

Williams so far has not been publicly disciplined by NBC.