Brian Williams is a hypocrite who hid his own lies while ripping into Mark McGwire after the baseball great admitted his use of steroids in 2010, sports consultant Ari Fleischer tells
Newsmax TV.
"Mark McGwire was a client of mine and I remember when he acknowledged he did steroids, nobody was tougher on him than Brian Williams," Fleischer said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
"Williams accused him of lying and said the shame was so much that he finally had to complain."
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In 2005, McGwire declined to answer questions under oath when he was ordered before a congressional hearing on steroids. But the beloved Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman fessed up in 2010, admitting he had used steroids to ease his injuries and apologized.
This week, Williams was suspended for six months as anchor of NBC Nightly News for "wrong and completely inappropriate" exaggerations, following his long-told claim that he had been on board a chopper felled by gunfire in Iraq in 2003.
The popular newsman is also under scrutiny for possibly misleading claims about a trip he took to Israel in 2006 and experiences he had in 2005 during his reporting of Hurricane Katrina.
Fleischer, the former spokesman for President George W. Bush and now president of Ari Fleischer Sports Communications, said Williams unfairly went after McGwire, even though the athlete never lied, but only refused to testify.
"And he finally did come out and tell the complete truth and say what he did was steroids. How can Williams beat somebody up like that when he himself has found out be a liar?" Fleischer asked Steve Malzberg.
"He's in a terrible spot. He brought this on himself."
As to whether Williams — now the subject of an internal investigation by NBC — will be back in the anchor chair later this year, Fleischer said:
"If the brass wants him back they can easily bring him back. The question is, will NBC viewers punish NBC? I don't think anybody knows the answer to that question.
"From an ethical point-of-view, there is a double standard here. When the politician gets in trouble, the media goes right after them … they want a resignation.
Here because this is a member of the media, they're trying to figure out how to have baby and cut it in half, how to keep him in the job, but act like he did something wrong and be tough on him.