Fox News' Bill O'Reilly spoke out in defense of Brian Williams on Monday night following the growing controversy around the NBC News anchor fabricating a story.
Williams has been in hot water ever since he admitted last week that he was not aboard a helicopter that was forced down by RPG fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as he previously stated. The "Nightly News" host has since taken a brief leave of absence from his program, and several more of his stories are now under investigation.
O'Reilly defended Williams on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," telling the audience that the anchor "made a mistake," and shaking his finger at anyone getting satisfaction from his downfall.
"Anybody who is enjoying the destruction of this man, you gotta look at yourself," O'Reilly said. "There's a lot of people saying that they're really happy his career is going down the drain. That disturbs me."
O'Reilly did say, however, that if Williams is found to have exaggerated or incorrectly reported on another story in addition to the Iraq helicopter incident, he believes he will be fired. But the Fox News host admitted that he has been in Williams' place, and said that he is going to give the NBC News anchor the benefit of the doubt.
"Every public person in this country is a target," O'Reilly added. "These people delight in seeing famous people being taken apart. And I just think it's wrong."