Brian Williams' Hometown Has Mixed Feelings About Embattled News Anchor
MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Before the cameras and the "NBC Nightly News," Brian Williams spent his days growing up in Middletown.
A woman sitting at the Middletown Pancake House told 1010 WINS' Rebecca Granet that Williams used to work at the restaurant.
"My mother remembers him being a bus boy here, and he was very quiet and shy," the woman said.
Locals Have Mixed Feelings About Brian Williams In His Hometown
But even after NBC suspended Williams for six months following his admission that he exaggerated his experiences covering the Iraq War, Bill, of Middletown, said the town is still proud of him.
"They have every right to be because he went to No. 1 in his business," he said.
Others, however, say Williams' credibility is an issue now.
"I just think his career's over. Nobody will trust him again," said one woman, adding having faith in a news anchor's facts is paramount.
Williams apologized last week for falsely claiming that he was in helicopter that had been hit by a grenade while in Iraq in 2003 a week earlier during a "Nightly News" tribute to a veteran he had befriended during his trip. Before expressing his regrets on the air, Williams did so online and in an interview with the newspaper Stars & Stripes.