Longtime TV anchor Brian Williams signed off for the last time at NBC on Thursday night with a warning about the future of democracy.
The MSNBC host and former "NBC Nightly News" anchor and managing editor wrapped up his nightly "The 11th Hour" news show with a look back at his time at the network, which includes "28 years, 38 countries, eight Olympic games, seven presidential elections, half a dozen presidents, a few wars and one SNL."
At the end of the broadcast, Williams criticized elected officials he thinks have "decided to join the mob" and "burn it all down with us inside."
"My biggest worry is for my country," he said. "The truth is I'm not a liberal or a conservative. I'm an institutionalist. I believe in this place and in my love of country I yield to no one. But the darkness on the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It's now at the local bar and the bowling alley, at the school board and the grocery store, and it must be acknowledged and answered for."
"Grown men and women, who swore an oath to our Constitution, elected by their constituents, possessing the kind of college degrees I could only dream of, have decided to join the mob and become something they are not, while hoping we somehow forget who they were," Williams continued. "They've decided to burn it all down with us inside."
Williams also expressed concern about the direction of the nation, saying the America of 2021 is "unrecognizable to those who came before us and fought to protect it."
Williams announced his departure from the network in November, saying he decided to step down with his contract expiring at the end of the year.
"This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another," he said at the time. "There are many things I want to do, and I'll pop up again somewhere."
Williams has not revealed his future plans, but said he does look forward to taking a break and relaxing.
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