Sean Hannity thinks the media should be covering the “big story” of President Obama’s (non) relationship with Bill Ayers instead of “a few words uttered by Donald Trump." Meanwhile, Hannity ignored assault charges filed by his own former colleague, Michelle Fields, against Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Of course, in Hannity’s mind, it’s liberals’ fault that violence has been breaking out at Trump rallies. “Left-wing radicals are directly to blame for inciting violence at Donald Trump’s rallies over the weekend,” Hannity declared in his introduction to a discussion with Newt Gingrich.
Not surprisingly, Gingrich was eager to jump on the “left-wing fascism” bandwagon.
GINGRICH: I think if you see Trump win or Cruz win, if either one goes to Washington and brings real reform, you’re going to see these kinds of militants willing to go out and do everything they can in the street to try to stop what they’re losing at the ballot box?
Oh, do you mean like shutting down the government because a duly-elected president exercised his Constitutional veto power over spending cuts? Or is shutting down the government partly because a president had you go out the back door of Air Force One your idea of democracy, Mr. Gingrich? Or is “doing everything to stop” democracy OK when it’s a Republican doing it?
I think we know the answer. But in case you don't, Hannity made IOKIYAR even clearer.
With a straight face, Hannity argued that President Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers is “such a big story” that the media should be covering that, rather than “a few words uttered by Donald Trump.”
In the first place, the media has covered it and found President Obama has no relationship with Ayers. Ayers also specifically said so in an interview with Megyn Kelly (which she did not disprove).
Secondly, Obama is on his way out of the White House - and not even Hannity came up with any evidence that Ayers has influenced a single presidential action or policy from Obama. Trump, on the other hand, is currently auditioning for the job.
But even more ridiculous was Hannity’s suggestion that Trump is like Al Gore and that Hannity excused Gore from blame for the Unabomber out of his own acute sense of fairness:
HANNITY: I thought we were always taught by the left, never blame the victim. For example, you have the Unabomber in his hut. Al Gore’s book, Earth in the Balance, was in there. Did Al Gore inspire the Unabomber? That wouldn’t be fair. Or you can take any number of examples where left-wing words do not cause people – you cannot say that words are causing people to be violent. But that’s the narrative that they’re trying to – it seems that there is a narrative that they’re trying to advance that Donald Trump brought this on himself, which is the most intellectually dishonest argument that I think I’ve heard in this entire race, which has been pretty crazy up to this point.
Really, Sean? Because besides the fact that Al Gore almost certainly never urged anyone to commit violence in his book (unlike Trump on the stump), I remember when you thought that words did incite violence – when they came from liberal mouths:
On March 12, 2015, Hannity blamed President Obama, Eric Holder and Al Sharpton for the violence that broke out during protests in Ferguson, Missouri:
HANNITY: They created in this community a mindset that there was gonna be a grand jury indictment – but with eyewitnesses and forensics, that was never gonna happen. And then the Department of Justice report confirmed and corroborated what the grand jury came up with. But the community was believing something that was false. Who’s going to apologize to the business owners, the cops that were shot, and the irresponsible rhetoric that has been surrounding this from the beginning. Because that community needs an apology from those that were reckless.
HANNITY: Everybody that rushed to judgment in this case, I would say are guilty of creating an atmosphere in Ferguson that led to a disaster. And people’s businesses gone forever. When are they gonna be held accountable? The president, Eric Holder, Al Sharpton: When are they gonna be held accountable?
HANNITY: The tensions were literally exacerbated by the president, by Eric Holder, by Al Sharpton. …Every time they said hands up, don’t shoot, that was a lie and a myth!
Meanwhile, reporter Michelle Fields, a former Fox News contributor and Hannity's own former colleague, has this week filed assault charges against Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski for manhandling her during a Trump event as she tried to ask a question. Fox News has previously accused Lewandowski of threatening host Megyn Kelly. But Hannity didn't say a word about those incidents, probably because he couldn't think of a way to blame liberals.
So, when it comes to intellectually dishonest arguments, Hannity’s may take the cake.
Watch it below, from the March 14 Hannity.