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Brian Williams ripped Rush Limbaugh and former FEMA director Michael Brown for their comments in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy on Thursday. Limbaugh later hit back at Williams on his radio show.
Williams, a native New Jerseyan, devoted the full hour of "Rock Center" to the devastation wrought by the hurricane. In his monologue, he turned his attention to Brown, who was in charge of FEMA during Hurricane Katrina. Brown has advised people to "chill out" in the wake of Sandy.
"Something we intend to pass along to these homeowners in Mantaloking, New Jersey, as soon as the embers from their homes have thoroughly cooled," Williams said in response on Thursday. He added that Brown was responsible for the "largest domestic human rights outrage of the modern era."
Williams also praised New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who he said has been "tactile and indefatigable" in his handling of the crisis. President Obama and Christie recently visited devastated areas of New Jersey together.
"So after all this loss you might be curious as to why Rush Limbaugh went after Gov. Christie today," the anchor continued. "It was because he was getting along so well with the president, working together, saying nice things about Barack Obama."
"Just when we feared the storm wiped away everything, we learned politics survived," Williams concluded.
"Brian, come on, what do you think the stroll on the beach with Obama and Christie was?" Limbaugh exclaimed in response on his Friday radio show. "It was politics!"
He argued that the two appeared together in the aftermath of the hurricane for political purposes only.
"Walk on the beach accomplished what?" Limbaugh continued. I live in Realville. Hugging the woman accomplished what?" He said that Christie and Obama should have been in a command center coordinating relief efforts, and that the resources required for Obama's visit added even more trouble.
Then, he turned his attention to NBC News, asking Williams:
Have you watched your network lately? Have you watched your sister or brother network... MSNBC, lately? You guys have your own mess to clean up there. Because you and your colleagues, you’re not only destroying news and journalism in this country, you’re not even doing your job. Does Benghazi ring a bell to any of you at NBC? Does the name alert you to anything? I know it’s not as cool as Iran-Contra or Watergate or Katrina — those all involve Republicans. But you know, Brian, four Americans died, as it turns out, unnecessarily. They were murdered. And people were trying to get answers, and NBC doesn’t care. NBC is helping to cover it up.
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