Brian Williams’ Return to TV Mocked with #BrianWilliamsPopeStories

Newly-minted MSNBC anchor Brian Williams wasn’t even on the air for an hour before a new hashtag on Twitter went viral.

Around the same time that the former NBC Nightly News anchor went on the air to cover Pope Francis‘ historic arrival in the United States, #BrianWilliamPopeStories popped up on Twitter. BuzzFeed points out that most of the joke tweets offer fake quips about the Pope from Williams’ point of view. Unsurprisingly, they’re not really all that flattering.

Most concern Francis in particular:

#BrianWilliamsPopeStories Did you know he was grazed by the very same bullet that struck Pope John Paul II in 1981 in Vatican Square?

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) September 22, 2015

“Imagine my embarrassment when I had to explain that, no, I’m not the vicar of Christ. It’s just a white suit.” #BrianWilliamsPopeStories

— Chris Stigall (@ChrisStigall) September 23, 2015

#brianwilliamspopestories We were manning the barricades at Planned Parenthood clinic, taking fire from Trump supporters

— John (@ATXright) September 23, 2015

Wanted a drink, so I changed some water into a nice Merlot. Francis seemed impressed. #BrianWilliamsPopeStories

— kcvinweho (@kcvinweho) September 23, 2015

“In a private phone call I advised him to skip the red shoes” #BrianWilliamsPopeStories

— Winter (@sheloveswinter) September 22, 2015

I once gave a power point lecture to the pope and convinced him global warming is real. #BrianWilliamsPopeStories

— Alan Kish (@akishjr) September 22, 2015

Though many are about the papacy in general:

#BrianWilliamsPopeStories Did you know he was grazed by the very same bullet that struck Pope John Paul II in 1981 in Vatican Square?

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) September 22, 2015

So I said, “Peter, that’s three denials … you are SO screwed!” #brianwilliamspopestories

— Mattphilbin (@Mattphilbin) September 23, 2015

During his stint as Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, Brian Williams cast the deciding ballot for John Paul II. #BrianWilliamsPopeStories

— Mike Glenn (@mrglenn) September 22, 2015

#brianwilliamspopestories I actually performed all of the miracles attributed to St. John Paul.

— Call Me Al (@adetocqueville) September 22, 2015

#brianwilliamspopestories He told John Paul II the secrets of Fatima

— Marc Sheehan (@MarcSheehan006) September 22, 2015

A few even took direct stabs at Williams’ recently-maligned career:

#brianwilliamspopestories “And that’s when I used my infallibility to explain evading death in Iraq.”

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 22, 2015

#BrianWilliamsPopeStories Pope told me his first miracle in USA would be raising me from the dead. I’m back live tonight. #I believe

— Widow Fike (@WidowFike) September 22, 2015

#brianwilliamspopestories I got shot down in a helicopter with wearing the papal robes

— Tom (@Tom_in_CT) September 22, 2015

[h/t BuzzFeed]
[Image via screengrab/Twitter]

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