Billy Bush Backpedals on Defense of Ryan Lochte … Sort Of
Monday on Today, Al Roker and Billy Bush struck a more conciliatory tone when discussing the heated argument they had on Friday regarding Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. On Friday’s show, Bush seemingly made excuses for the way Lochte handled the situation in which he lied about being robbed at gunpoint while in Rio. Roker didn’t accept any of Bush’s explanations for Lochte’s actions and repeated over and over that everything the swimmer had said was a lie.
On Monday, Bush explained that he wasn’t trying to take Lochte’s side or make excuses; he said he was just playing devil’s advocate so all three anchors weren’t of the same opinion. Though Lochte came out and admitted much of the lying and wrongdoing he is accused of, Bush was still not totally willing to hold him responsible.
Of the position he took on Lochte, Bush said, “There’s still some things that remain. There was a gun. There were people told to get on the ground. There was a badge of some kind. Who were those people? We don’t know. There’s bathroom footage. There’s still a couple of things up in the air about it though, and I wanted to raise those points.”
Most of those points had already been made through with the video from the night in question and Lochte’s own admission of wrongdoing, but Bush quickly changed the subject before anyone could point that out. Immediately after raising those “points,” Bush said the only thing he’s guilty of is not wanting America to look bad abroad. He then said what makes him really upset about this is the negative effect it may have on the people of Rio, finally making points that no one can argue with.
Check out Today’s 5 most awkward moments from Rio:
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