When Sean Hannity isn’t busy outright promoting Donald Trump, chances are he’s attacking a Trump critic. The list of Hannity's targets is impressive and includes Pope Francis, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, five Republican senators and a slew of conservative pundits.
Hannity has recently come under scrutiny for his irresponsible pro-Trump punditry while acting as a Fox News host. He was properly blasted by CNN’s Brian Stelter for uncritically promoting Trump’s baseless “rigged election” fear mongering and for acting like a Trump surrogate with bogus smears about Hillary Clinton’s health.
Hannity has a long record of attacking anyone he considers his political foe. But he’s gone to extraordinarily lengths during the 2016 campaign, probably due to Trump’s extreme unpopularity.
Media Matters has prepared a list of the targets so far. I’ve reported on many of them, such as Hannity’s shocking attack on Univision’s Jorge Ramos (“You don’t support the rule of law in America.”); Pope Francis’ “disgraceful” criticism of Trump for building walls, not bridges; CNN’s “pipsqueak” Brian Stelter, who had the audacity to question Hannity’s ethics; and “dumbass” Bret Stephens, a Wall Street Journal editor who criticized Hannity for attacking Republicans against Trump.
One person I'd add to Media Matters' list is Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who delivered what may turn out to be the most memorable and most decisive smackdown of Trump in the campaign. Hannity tried to impugn Khan by suggesting he's a stealth supporter of Sharia law.
But that's not to take anything away from the excellent Media Matters roundup. Here are a few more of its examples:
- The New York Times
Hannity: Because The Times Reported On Trump’s Sexism, “They Deserve What They Get.” On the June 1 edition of his Fox News show, Hannity rejected Trump adviser Newt Gingrich’s claim that Trump could do without “some of the nastiness” directed at the press. Hannity interrupted him to say “if The New York Times writes a story that you abused women … I think they deserve” the vitriol “they get” from Trump: [Fox News, Hannity, 6/1/16]
- House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Hannity Accused “Pathetic” Paul Ryan Of “Sabotage” For Not Immediately Endorsing Trump. When House Speaker Paul Ryan initially refused to endorse Trump after he became the presumptive Republican nominee, Hannity accused “pathetic” Ryan of “sabotage” against Trump and “betray[al]” of the Republican base. [Twitter, 5/5/16]
- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Hannity Lent Credence To Trump’s Lie That Cruz’s Father Helped Kill JFK. In an interview with Hannity, Trump repeated the false allegation from The National Enquirer (a tabloid owned by one of Trump’s friends) that Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Hannity remarked “I saw that somewhere on the internet,” and “I don’t know the truth or veracity of it.” [Media Matters, 5/3/16]
- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Hannity Blamed McCain For Trump’s Attack On His War Record. After Trump declared in reference to Sen. McCain’s time as a prisoner of war that he “like[s] people who weren’t captured,” Hannity asserted “this all got started by McCain” for criticizing Trump’s comments that Mexican immigrants are rapists. [Media Matters, 7/20/15]
Check out the full list at Media Matters. And then remember, there’s still plenty of time for Hannity to add more targets in the more than two months left before the election.
Crossposted at News Hounds.
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