Joe Williams, Former Politico Reporter, Defends Himself: Mitt Romney Comment 'Was Very Much Proven' (VIDEO)

WATCH: Former Politico Reporter Defends Himself

Reporter Joe Williams spoke out about his messy exit from Politico on Sunday's "Reliable Sources."

Williams recently lost his job after saying on MSNBC that Mitt Romney appeared "very comfortable" around white people. Conservative websites seized on his appearance, posting it along with other pointed messages that Williams had tweeted about Romney.

He defended the remark to CNN's Howard Kurtz on Sunday. Williams said that the comment "was very much proven, something that seems obvious to everyone," adding that other people didn't understand "what the big deal was."

He went on to claim that right-wing websites targeted himself after an earlier cable news appearance where he said that conservative media is good at pushing back against reporters they perceive as biased.

"Now, that statement in alone and itself was not necessarily controversial," Williams said. "You couple that with saying that I believe Mitt Romney is more comfortable around other white people who are like him, and that was an impetus for them to push back hard at me. And that's what made Politico uncomfortable."

Kurtz suggested that Williams was blaming others. "These are your words and tweets that are being thrown back at you," he insisted. "So it sounds like you're blaming others for your own missteps."

Williams rejected that idea. "I was careless... I heeded warnings too late and was not especially judicious in what I was doing and saying," he admitted. "So that part I take responsibility of completely. What I do say is that the right-wing media machine is very good at pushing back and creating an image that causes one thing to be the story and not the other."

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