Sean Hannity opened his phone chat with Donald Trump last night by boasting about his insider status and broadly hinting that he may have persuaded Dear Leader to award Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, at the request of Matt Drudge and Jared Kushner.
Trump phoned in to Fox for at least the second time yesterday to join the network’s mourning of Limbaugh's death. Hannity's opening of the phoner not only hinted he deserved credit for the award but that he deserved credit for providing Limbaugh the “honor of his life.”
HANNITY: Mr. President, I know that the honor of his life came from you, and what that Medal of Freedom meant to him. I know the behind-the-scenes story. I know -- I know who made the first call to me anyway, it was Matt Drudge and Jared Kushner.
And I know you made your decision in -- with Melania there - in about five seconds. And you said, that's a great idea.
Tell us about it.
TRUMP: Well, it was an idea that we had, that a lot of people suggested to me, frankly, a lot of great people of our country, largely Republicans.
It was an amazing night, because the Republicans went wild. And the Democrats sat there, but they all respected Rush. And I think it was one of the great honors of his life, Presidential Medal of Freedom. It's a big deal.
And he -- he was very honored by it. And he was a great gentleman …
Hannity was reportedly dubbed Trump’s "unofficial chief of staff" by some official Trump aides and the two reportedly chatted like “old girlfriends” most nights before bedtime. Whatever role Hannity played in Trump’s decision to award the highest civilian honor to Limbaugh, no doubt the least deserving person ever to receive it, what’s very clear is that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who served as an official adviser to Trump, went to Hannity for sway over his father-in-law, at least as Hannity tells it. And Hannity is boasting about that.
Sadly for Ol’ Bullyboy, Hannity knows he will never have that kind of access in the Biden White House. But Hannity closed the interview by suggesting his Bedtime BFF may soon make Hannity great again:
HANNITY: I know -- I read your statement the other day. And I know you said, in the months ahead, you have a lot you want to tell us.
And we won't do it tonight, obviously. But when that -- when that time comes, we're looking forward to hearing what your future plans are and what you are planning to do.
I have a funny feeling we're going to hear a lot more from Donald Trump.
Are my instincts correct?
TRUMP: Well, there's a lot to talk about.
HANNITY: Right.
TRUMP: And our country is a great place. And we're going to make it even greater, as the expression goes. But we have a lot to talk about.
But today's all about Rush, don't you think?
HANNITY: Yes.
You can watch it below, from the February 17, 2021 Hannity.
Throwing away the Medal of Freedom on an unrepentant bigot like Limbaugh (as well as Nunez and Jordan) was a slap in the face to the nation and a permanent soiling of something that had been a significant honor before the Pence White House chose to trash it. Multiple nominees since then have refused the honor, as they do not wish to share it with a hatemonger like Limbaugh. My thinking for the past year is that the Biden/Harris White House needs to redesignate the Medal of Freedom to a new name – such as the Medal of Freedom and American Spirit, and then grandfather in all prior recipients except Limbaugh, Paul Harvey, Devin Nunez and Jim Jordan. So that future inventors and poets will not need to have their records soiled by being counted with those angry men and can appreciate an honor being bestowed upon them without a bitter taste.
I’ll also note that Pence’s childish former spokesman makes a point of noting that Sean Hannity wasn’t the only angry Right Winger urging him to throw that honor away on Limbaugh. The Pence White House had been flooded with requests by Limbaugh fans, other radio hosts and various angry Right Wingers to do this for Limbaugh as a stunt during the 2020 SOTU. Hannity was just one in a chorus that the Pence White House decided to satisfy by giving a fairly open middle finger to the rest of the country. As partly noted by the article, Limbaugh celebrated by gay-bashing Pete Buttigieg for having the nerve to come out ahead in the first couple of 2020 primaries. The article left out how Limbaugh gloated about getting the Medal and used it to once again promote himself. It’s possible that Hannity was the deciding factor in this hateful act. But it’s also possible that Hannity simply wants his viewers to think he was.
