MSNBC justice correspondent Pete Williams refuted his own network's chyron that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had "joined" in a chant of "lock her up" during a speech to a conservative group on Tuesday.
Sessions spoke at Turning Point USA's High School Leadership Summit in Washington, where he criticized colleges for coddling liberal students.
"Well I can tell this group isn't going to have to have Play-Doh when you get attacked in college and you get involved in a debate," Sessions said. "I like this bunch, I gotta tell you. You're not going to be backing down. Go get 'em. Go get 'em."
CNN reported the "lock her up" chant then began in the crowd, a throwback to the 2016 campaign when Donald Trump's supporters would yell those words about wanting Hillary Clinton jailed for using a private email server as secretary of state.
Sessions chuckled and said, "Lock her up," almost to himself, before adding, "So, I heard that a long time on the last campaign."
MSNBC played the clip and flashed the chyron, "Atty General Joins 'Lock Her Up' Chant At High School Event," as anchor Hallie Jackson asked Williams to respond to what he saw.
"I guess that was sort of a memory reflex for him," Williams said. "I'm not sure that he joined the chant. He seemed to be saying that he recognized it, but remember, this was something that he did join ... in 2016, when the crowds would yell 'Lock her up,' ... I'm not sure that he joined it, but I'm sure it was, as he said, familiar to him."