Geraldo Rivera Compares Marco Rubio's 'Fudged' Backstory To Brian Williams

Brian Williams is probably the last person any politician wants to be compared to right about now, but veteran TV newsman Geraldo Rivera drew parallels between Williams and potential presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) during a HuffPost Live interview Tuesday.

"His backstory is kind of complicated and kind of fudged, a lot like Brian Williams in a sense," Rivera said of Rubio. "His family weren't thrown out of Cuba by Fidel Castro. They were immigrants who came in before Castro."

Rivera was referring to an inaccuracy in the biography Rubio and his team touted on his website, which claimed Rubio's parents moved to Miami from Cuba after Fidel Castro's takeover of the country. After several news organizations reported that the story didn't add up, Rubio admitted his parents came to America before Castro's takeover and said he was "not made aware of the exact dates until very recently," according to PolitiFact.

Rivera was the subject of his own controversy about an inaccurate report in 2001, when he said he had recited the Lord's Prayer over the "hallowed ground" where friendly fire killed three Americans in Afghanistan. It was later revealed that Rivera's actual location was 300 miles from the incident he described. He blamed the "fog of war" for the error, and Fox News called it an honest mistake.

Rivera also told HuffPost Live's Josh Zepps on Tuesday that Rubio hasn't met Rivera's expectations on immigration.

"He is someone I wish would have the courage of his convictions, and his convictions early on were for immigration reform, and he chickened out," Rivera said.

The Fox News contributor also assessed Jeb Bush ("the only one that has a chance against Hillary"), Chris Christie ("presided over a thug administration") and Rand Paul ("the most exciting and interesting person on the public scene today").

Watch Geraldo Rivera's full HuffPost Live conversation here.

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