MSNBC host and former “NBC Nightly News” host and managing editor, Brian Williams, last signed on to NBC on Thursday night.
Williams concluded her late-night MSNBC show “The 11th Hour” with a look back at her 28 years on the network, which have included eight Olympics and seven presidential elections.
His departure comes exactly one month after news broke that he planned to leave the company.
In his farewell to the air, Williams warned against extremism in the country.
“The truth is that I am neither a liberal nor a conservative. I am an institutionalist, ”he said. “I believe in this place and my love for the country I do not surrender to anyone. But the darkness on the outskirts of the city has spread to major highways, highways, and neighborhoods. Now he’s at the local pub and at the school board bowling alley at the grocery store. “
He also lashed out at elected officials who he believes have “joined the mafia” and who have “decided to burn everything with us inside.”
MSNBC President Rashida Jones said in a note to staff last month that Williams would be leaving at the end of the year to “spend time with his family.”
He added that Williams published “countless” important stories and attracted top journalists to his shows.
In her November note to colleagues, Williams wrote that “there were good friends galore at NBC. I was lucky that everyone I worked with made me better at my job. “
In 2015, when he was the host of “NBC Nightly News,” Williams was suspended by the network for six months after he told an inaccurate story about his helicopter being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
He admitted to the air that he had “made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago.”
After the suspension, Williams moved to MSNBC, where he later released “The 11th Hour.”
Lester Holt took over as the lead presenter for “NBC Nightly News.”
Williams has not spoken publicly about his future plans, but in his November note to NBC staff, he wrote that he has a lot to look forward to and hopes he will “show up again somewhere.”
He echoed that sentiment in his farewell Thursday night.
“It will probably be impossible for me to be silent and get away from you (the viewer) and the lights and cameras,” he said. “After experimenting with relaxation and discovering what I have missed and what is out there.”
He also thanked the staff and team who worked with him over the years and his lifelong audience.
“Every night of the week for decades, I’ve said some version of the same: ‘Thank you for being here with us,” he concluded. “We, that is, the people who produce this broadcast for you. And you … well, no you, There is not us.
“I will show myself until we meet again. That’s our broadcast for this Thursday night. Thank you for being here with us. And to all my colleagues at the NBC News networks, good evening. “