MSNBC's Brian Williams didn't just say goodbye in his final episode of "The 11th Hour With Brian Williams" Thursday night — he also delivered an ominous warning about the state of the nation.
The 62-year-old journalist, who worked at MSNBC for 28 years, prefaced his grim message with, "My biggest worry is for my country."
Then, after describing himself in a way that used to be, long long ago, a commonplace ideal for journalists — "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" — he sounded the alarm.
"But the darkness on the edge of town has spread to main roads, on highways and neighborhoods. It's now at the local bar, the bowling alley, at the school board and the grocery store," he said. "Grown men and women who swore an oath to our constitution, elected by their constituents … have decided to join the mob and become something they are not."
"They've decided to burn it all down, with us inside," he continued. "That should scare you to no end," he said.
He then takes a break to thank his viewers and friends in a more typical farewell, before circling back.
"The reality is, though, I will wake up tomorrow in America of the year 2021, a nation unrecognizable to those who came before us and fought to protect it. Which is what you must do now."
