Following rumors NBC wasn’t so happy with Al Roker’s comments about Ryan Lochte, NBC News correspondent Tamron Hall has spoken out in support of her colleague.
Roker told Billy Bush on TODAY, “He lied. He lied to you, he lied to Matt Lauer, he lied to his mom, [and] he left his teammates hanging while he skedaddled.” Hall told the New York Post, “You know, he’s paying his pound of flesh. Listen, Al Roker is one of the most sensible people you’ll ever meet. He’s raised two daughters and a son. And I love him, in that as jovial as he is, he’s a straight shooter. He’s a New Yorker, as they say.”
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The MSNBC anchor also defended Billy Bush’s original interview with Lochte, which was the start of the robbery and vandalism scandal. “I thought it was fantastic. He didn’t go to the beach knowing he’d stumble into that interview. He was just saying, ‘What’s up?’ . . . And then it turned into, ‘Oh, by the way, this happened to me.’ And he shot it with an iPhone.”
Lochte eventually blamed alcohol for his bad decision. Hall added, “I won’t name names. [But] I have interviewed people who perhaps didn’t plan it well and maybe were inebriated.”
Some people may still be upset over Roker’s comments, but at the end of the day the only person to blame, really, is Lochte.