If Sean Hannity’s Friday night show is any guide, the 2016 election is going to be very, very nasty.

Hannity reacted to the news that Hillary Clinton would formally announce her 2016 candidacy with a set of smears, smearing clips, smearing quotes and guests to match.

Hannity opened the discussion by running some critical quotes of Clinton from Democrats. He ignored the substance of the critiques (her vote for the war in Iraq, from Lincoln Chafee, and Elizabeth Warren’s concern about strengthening and rebuilding the middle class).

Instead, Hannity segued to “advising” Clinton that “She owes YOU, the American people, an explanation about the following things.”

You can watch the video to see what they are but Benghazi and her “temper” were a part of it. Helping the middle class was not.

To make sure Clinton really got trashed, Hannity opened a panel discussion with discredited Hillary-hater, Ed Klein. The other guests were Washington Examiner’s Rebecca Berg, whose Twitter page is headlined, “Berghazi,” and Democratic wanker Doug Schoen.

Hannity’s first question, whether Clinton’s attempts to distance herself from the Obama administration would prompt a backlash from them, was little more than a prompt for Klein to promote his laughable conspiracy theory that the Clinton email story was leaked to the media by the Obama administration. “More is yet to come from the Obamas,” he said ominously.

“Democrat” Schoen did not challenge. He did knock down Hannity’s desperately hoped-for scandal about Bill Clinton (that even Bill O'Reilly debunked) on “Orgy Island.” But that was it for advocating for his own side. Schoen not only agreed with Hannity that foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation would be a problem but brought up, “She had problem with message, as you know in ’08, she had problems articulating on her book tour what her philosophy and programs were, she’ll have to prove that she does now.”

Next, Hannity played “some of the worst moments of Hillary” so that Berg could weigh in on “how big a factor” they’ll be in her campaign.

“That was quite a highlight reel,” Berg said, with a wide grin on her face.

Hannity moved on to “Hillary’s temper.” He read some unflattering quotes from Gail Sheehy, George Stephanopoulos and Dee Dee Myers. “This sounds like an angry woman,” Hannity opined.

Klein used that as an opening to make her an angry woman about Orgy Island. He claimed (without citing any sources) that when she “heard about the Jeffrey Epstein matter, the Orgy Island, she went barreling into Bill Clinton’s office in Chappaqua, took her hand and cleaned off his desk, wiping off everything – including his Chihuly sculptures, furious at him and practically killed him. I mean, she has this terrible anger.”

Despite Klein's suggestion, there's no there there regarding Bill Clinton and “Orgy Island.” As I previously wrote, BuzzFeed did an exhaustive investigation into the issue. It found that flight logs indicate Clinton flew on Epstein’s jet for professional reasons and “never flew with his wealthy friend anywhere near” the so-called “Orgy Island.” It’s Virginia Roberts, who’s writing a tell-all memoir, and whose credibility has just been demolished, who claims Clinton traveled there. But even she has said, “I have never seen him have sexual relations with anyone.” But Schoen, who debunked Roberts’ credibility in prior comments, did not challenge Klein here, either.

Instead, Schoen piled on to the “temper” issue by saying he had turned down an opportunity to “play a significant role” in her 2008 presidential campaign. He called Clinton “talented” and “smart” but “not somebody I would want to associate my political career with, even though I will vote for her and, I hope, be able to vote for her enthusiastically.”

“Berghazi” Berg, still grinning, predictably agreed on the “temper” subject. But Berg also gratuitously added that there’s a “larger problem” of Clinton not being “relatable” and “This is why she’s not a great campaigner.”

That ended the discussion but not the end of Hannity’s assault on Hillary. He ran through the following teasers before going to a break:

Coming up later tonight, in a Hannity exclusive, you’re gonna meet the author who claims that Hillary Clinton physically beat her husband, Bill, bloody, when he was in the White House.  …Also tonight, civil rights leaders have expressed their disappointment with President Barack Obama. So, should they support Hillary Clinton running for president? …Then later tonight, Frank Luntz explains how Hillary Clinton’s rhetoric is not resonating well with voters when it comes to her numerous scandals. That and much more on this busy news night.

And that was before Clinton announced her candidacy.

Watch it below, from the April 10 Hannity.