Trust me, Sean Hannity didn’t lambaste presidential Vivek Ramaswamy's attacks on rival Nikki Haley due to a sudden fit of fairness.

In case you missed it, Ramaswamy for the Democrat treatment on the Hannity show last night, maybe slightly better. Heather, at Crooks and Liars (where I am a contributor), also surmised Ramaswamy has been booted from the Preferred Candidate spot in her post about Ramaswamy’s grilling. It included this excerpt from Mediaite:

“What you’re doing here is– saying about Nikki Haley, is you’re saying that her concern for Israel is driven by financial and a corrupting influence,” Hannity said. “And your explanation that there’s disproportionate focus on rape, kidnapping and murder of the Jewish people in this attack and they’re – and your quote, ‘that there are frankly financial and corrupting influences that lead them exactly to speak the way they do.'”

“Sean, that is a shameful mischaracterization,” Ramaswamy said.

“Hey, Vivek, wait a minute, stop right now,” Hannity said before referencing the candidate’s history of denying things he has said. “You do this in every single interview. You say stuff and then you deny it. You deny your own words. So, you know, why don’t you just own what you say and stand by it and stop playing these games?”

It did not get better from there.

You may recall that in August, Brian and I reported that Fox had pivoted away from Ron DeSantis and had embraced Ramaswamy as the network’s chosen 2024 presidential candidate. To his credit, however, I don’t think Hannity was ever much impressed, though he was a lot more cordial toward Ramaswamy in this late August interview.

But more recently, candidate Nikki Haley has become the Fox fave. So it’s no coincidence that most of Hannity’s ire last night was spent defending Haley, whom Ramaswamy had attacked.

You can watch it below, via Crooks and Liars. And do note Hannity saying, near the end, “I think people who never held public office, like you, maybe they’re not qualified to be president!"

12/9/23 update: The link for "her post" has been corrected.