Conan O’Brien Skewers Brian Williams’ News Exaggerations

by Austin Petersen

Late night comedy genius Conan O’Brien stuck beleaguered NBC News anchor on the butt end of his joke stick. O’Brien’s funny segment appropriately teased Williams in the wake of his scandal which saw him exaggerating a story about being in a helicopter in Iraq which was shot down.

Williams has recanted the story, after a soldier from the unit he described contradicted his version of events. Now he has taken what is being called a “brief hiatus” from reporting as the lead news anchor for the network. Now his entire career of reporting is under scrutiny, with people calling into question his accounts of Hurricane Katrina and other major events. Fox News reported that NBC is not conducting an internal investigation, but that Williams stepped aside voluntarily.

Celebrity Rosie O’Donnell took jabs at Williams as well while presenting awards to HBO executives. “Maybe that’s the problem in my relationships; I see someone I like and I make s–t up like Brian Williams . . . I escaped on 9/11 from the twin towers. No, I didn’t; I got mixed up. F–king Lance Armstrong liar.”

Editor of The Libertarian Republic Austin Petersen will appear on the Sun News Network today at 11:45am ET to discuss the controversy. Petersen’s recent show on the topic “How the media lies to you, and why you love it,” has been downloaded over 135,000 times. Listen here.

Austin Petersen is a homegrown Missourian with a lifelong passion for liberty. He grew up on a horse farm in Peculiar, Missouri and went on to attend Missouri State University, graduating with a degree in the Fine Arts. After developing a career in media in both New York City and Washington, D.C., he returned to Kansas City, MO, the city he now calls home. In 2016, Petersen appeared on the national stage as a candidate for president of the United States. He took second place in the crowded Libertarian primary behind Governor Gary Johnson and ahead of cyber security maverick John McAfee. During his campaign, Petersen earned many high-profile conservative endorsements, including Mary Matalin, Erick Erickson and Leon Wolf of RedState.com. Petersen also brings decades of professional experience in a wide variety of fields, from content production and media to business and political activism. He is the owner and chief executive of Stonegait LLC, a consulting firm specializing in photo and video services. He was also the director of production at FreedomWorks and an associate producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show “Freedom Watch” on the Fox Business Network. Additionally, Petersen has a national following as a commentator and professional pundit. He is the founder of The Libertarian Republic, a powerful online news source for the public that receives an average of 1 million unique visits monthly and whose podcast, The Freedom Report, receives an average of one million monthly downloads. He is also a frequent contributor on television, appearing on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, MSNBC and on dozens of local radio shows.

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