As NBC anchor Brian Williams appeared as a guest on Wednesday's The Late Show on CBS, host David Letterman charged that Republican political strategist Karl Rove "lied to" and tried to "frighten" the electorate in 2012, referring to the former George W. Bush strategist as a "tubby little weasel." Letterman:
And I believe, including that tubby little weasel Karl Rove, I believe they just, [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE] they tried to frighten the electorate, they lied to the electorate. Even right up to the last minute, Karl Rove, did you see him? He nearly, I just thought, "Well, the next thing will happen is someone will puncture him and he'll fly away." They wanted their people to believe a lie.
A bit later, he even took a shot at former John McCain running mate Sarah Palin as being party of Republicans using "rhetoric" that "frightened people." Letterman:
But the early rhetoric, and I think it started when John McCain announced his choice for vice presidential candidate, the early rhetoric that sprung from that and created waves that are still lapping up against the shore of nonsense, I think, frightened people and caused things to turn needlessly.
--Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center