Alec Baldwin took to the airwaves this week to present his theory as to what motivated NBC Nightly News’ anchor Brian William’s penchant for tall tales, and according to Baldwin, some of the fault lies with conservatives.
“I have a theory,” the actor said on his WNYC radio show Wednesday morning, before connecting the American Sniper audience with a faction of Nightly News fans, whom he says are only pleased by pro-military nationalism.
He told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: “My theory about Brian was that because Brian’s audience is an audience that’s a middle-class, conservative, moms and pops that aren’t walking around with their devices in their hands all the time… they say… my news, Brian tells me what the news is.”
He continued:
Brian, I think, fell even unconsciously victim to something, which was wrapping himself in the flag and in the glory of the military to please his audience. He kind of got a little drunk…
I see his language and I see the way he plays it out and I try to understand people as an actor, like what they’re going through, and I thought, ‘He’s trying to communicate to people here. He’s trying to tell them something.’
I think his crowd happens to be a very pro-military, conservative crowd. I mean, six o’clock news on NBC … it’s an older, more conservative crowd.
Stephanopoulos kept a safe distance from Baldwin’s speculative remarks, but did offer that he felt Williams was merely trying to “connect to people through stories.”
Brian Williams was suspended from his Nightly News post by the network for a period of six months, without pay, for falsely claiming he was on a helicopter that was hit by RPG fire During the Iraq War in 2003.
Listen to Alec Baldwin’s entire interview with George Stephanopoulos below: