BuzzFeed reporter Rosie Gray did a great job with Sean Hannity Tuesday night as she knocked back all his efforts to equate the Black Lives Matter movement with the alt-right.
Hannity’s overall game plan was to suggest that while the alt-right is not really part of mainstream conservatism, there is an alt-left that is part of mainstream liberalism. (Just pay no attention to the fact that Steve Bannon, the voice of the alt-right, has just been named Donald Trump’s chief strategist, a top position.)
Hannity laughably claimed that the left uses the term “alt-right” for anyone they think is “extreme or too conservative.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center defines it as:
"a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief is that 'white identity' is under attack by multicultural forces using 'political correctness' and 'social justice' to undermine white people and 'their' civilization. Characterized by heavy use of social media and online memes, Alt-Righters eschew 'establishment' conservatism, skew young, and embrace white ethno-nationalism as a fundamental value."
Hannity played a clip of some fringe white nationalist group and juxtaposed it with his favorite clips of Black Lives Matter, the chanters of “pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon” and “What do we want? Dead cops.” Then he tried to badger Gray into condemning President Obama for meeting with members of Black Lives Matter.
Gray nicely beat back that effort. She pointed out that the people Obama met with had nothing to do with the people in Hannity’s clips. She also noted drily, “I haven’t really heard you take a firm position on the alt-right, though, which is a real movement.”
Hannity made lots of showy gestures at taking a firm position but he never actually disavowed the movement. Despite his chumminess with Trump, Hannity claimed not to have heard of “most of these people.”
HANNITY: Anybody that puts up a Nazi salute, anybody that’s racist, anybody that’s anti-Semitic, has zero place in the conservative movement. I condemn them, I condemn their views, I condemn everything about them.
Unfortunately for Hannity, he has a long, documented history indicating otherwise. Before he was on Fox News, Hannity gave lots of friendly air time to white supremacist Hal Turner, who reportedly “reminded Hannity that were it not for the graciousness of the white man, ‘black people would still be swinging on trees in Africa.’”
There was also Hannity’s pal Jesse Lee Peterson who once announced on Hannity’s show, “Most blacks, not all but most in Tennessee, especially in the Memphis, Tennessee area, are still living in the 50s and 60s. They are so racist that they don’t even realize that white Americans have moved on … they always use racism in order to intimidate white America.” Not only did Hannity not challenge that outrageous claim, he refused to allow his other guest to rebut.
There was also criminal rancher Cliven Bundy, the guy whose armed insurrection against law enforcers Hannity championed until – oops, Bundy was exposed as a virulent racist.
That’s not counting all the white guys in racial hot water that Hannity took under his wing: Don Imus, Mel Gibson and Duane “Dog” Chapman, e.g.
I’ll bet Hannity is also the only major news host to defend racial segregation in this decade.
Gray was either unaware of Hannity’s record or she chose not to challenge him about it. She did say pointedly that Trump had been slow to disavow David Duke.
Hannity jumped to Trump’s defense:
HANNITY: He doesn’t support David Duke. There’s nothing in his history that shows of racism or anti-Semitism and if it did, you know what? Conservatives like me wouldn’t support somebody like that.
In reality, Trump’s history is filled with racism and with anti-Semitism.
But Gray replied, “Sure.” I’m not sure she believed him.
What do you think? Watch it below, from the November 22, 2016 Hannity and share your thoughts and observations.
Well that’s fine, but one thing’s for sure, David Duke supports Donald Trump.
Evolution is an EOE adherent in the race/arms race. The KKK and the neo-nazis have become the alt right. But they aren’t equivalents to BLM. But they both sure as hell race for different goals.
Sean Hannity is riding the merry go round horse with the swastika.