Sean Hannity has proved just how little he cares about ethics in a recent Trump campaign video. Not because Hannity said anything about his feelings for Trump we didn’t already know but because he was willing to flout Fox News rules in order to appear in the video. Even worse, Fox barely seems to care.
The ad, which also features Ted Nugent (who has called for Hillary Clinton to be hanged), Sheriff David Clarke (talking about the need for leadership, despite the fact that an inmate recently died of thirst in one of Clarke’s jails) and a “Benghazi hero,” also includes the Kansas secretary of state saying, “Illegal immigration is now killing every state in the union. Every state’s a border state now.”
Hannity appears at about 6:00, in a polo shirt and blue jeans (the better you should think he’s a regular guy and not a private jetster) saying he supports Trump because of whom he’ll appoint to the Supreme Court and, among other reasons, “He’s a guy that will vet refugees to keep Americans safe.” That is, unless you care about staying safe from illness or medical costs because multimillionaire Hannity also loves that Trump plans to “eliminate ObamaCare.”
But appearing in a promotional video for a candidate is almost certainly prohibited by Hannity’s contract. The Daily Beast investigated and got the following response:
“We were not aware of Sean Hannity participating in a promotional video,” said a Fox News spokesperson, after The Daily Beast informed the network of Hannity’s appearance, “and he will not be doing anything along these lines for the remainder of the election season.”
The "remainder of the election season?" Does that mean Hannity is only restricted from stumping for candidates for the next seven weeks?
The Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove further noted, “It was not clear if Fox News co-presidents Bill Shine and/or Jack Abernethy gave Hannity a talking-to or whether he will face any disciplinary action.”
It’s hard to imagine that Hannity didn’t know his appearance would be frowned upon by his network. But he also probably knew he’d get away with it. Remember how Fox was supposedly “furious” that seats to the Hannity show were being sold to raise money for the Tea Party? That transgression appeared to be repercussion free. So why wouldn't this one?
And, in fairness, since Hannity’s television show is viewed, even by conservatives, as part of Trump's campaign apparatus, and Hannity is already informally advising Trump, Hannity must have figured there’s little difference in saying in a campaign video what he regularly says on Fox News.
The sad thing is, Hannity's right about that.
You can watch the video, below. And you can pretty much rest assured that Fox will continue to allow Hannity to turn his shows into Trump infomercials even after the election.
That is such an excellent point. And I think we have an answer.
Unless Hannity actually thinks Trump needs a much bigger push to get there.
Meaning that his presence in this thing is more of a sign of increasing panic by the right wing over this election. Hannity is doing this so he can say after it’s over that “I did everything I could to see Trump elected – it’s not my fault he lost.” It’s for the narrative he will attempt to spin starting the day after the election. And it also gets him brownie points with Trump, should that new media idea ever happen.
Given the newer polling and the likely results of next Monday, I’ll be very curious to see how Hannity deals with the impending reality of the election. My instincts say he will begin acting out in wilder ways. Expect to see a lot of Ed Klein and Gary Byrne and other professional Clinton-haters over the next 7 weeks…
Olbermann was right. No one is gonna touch Sean.
seannie poo in a single sentence.
Relax Elmer Fudd, Hillary and the Democrats are not going to take away your guns. You can still wear your Rambo outfits and hunt Bambi to make yourself feel like a sportsman. Just make sure you don’t shoot your best friend in the face like Dick Cheney did. As you well know what they want to ban are assault weapons that fire several rounds a second that are designed only to slaughter many human beings as quickly as possible. Also to have background checks at gun shows which is supported by 91% of the American public.
Screw the facts. It only ruins a good flag waving rant.
