Sean Hannity trotted out fake proof that Donald Trump, "did not make it up" when he said he saw "thousands and thousands" of Muslims cheering in New Jersey as the World Trade towers fell on 9/11.
Trump is just one of many in a very, very long line of white bigots that Hannity has championed.
In this case, the bigotry had the added bonus of being useful in smearing President Obama for wanting to take in Syrian refugees.
“Must you not conclude that the president is willing to gamble with the lives of Americans?” Hannity “asked” his birther pal, Trump.
It’s one of Hannity’s favorite attack lines these days. Apparently, Hannity hopes we won’t remember that he was perfectly willing to gamble with lives of Americans for the sake of his racist, law-breaking rancher, Cliven Bundy. Or that he cheered on Islamophobic extremist Pamela Geller after her "draw the prophet" stunt endangered lives.
Later, Hannity cited a Washington Post article dated September 18, 2001 that said, “In Jersey City, within hours of two jetliners’ plowing into the World Trade Center, law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river.” He also cited an Associated Press article citing “rumors of rooftop celebrations.”
“The Washington Post, I don’t see one example where they made a correction,” Hannity said, as if that was proof that Trump had been proven right.
Here’s how The Washington Post shoots down any notion that that article proves Trump’s claim:
Of course, “a number of people” obviously does not equal “thousands” — and “allegedly” indicates there is no video footage or other proof that celebrations actually took place. Recall that Trump claimed he saw this on television — and that it was “well covered at the time.” This newspaper article appeared days later.
But Trump grabbed the lifeline. “They did no correction, absolutely,” he said.
Note that Hannity did not play the clip of Trump in which he said he saw "thousands" of Muslims cheering.
“But the way this was reported is that you made this up whole cloth. You did not make it up whole cloth,” Hannity assured Trump.
“No, I didn’t make it up. No, no, it happened. I saw it. It was all over the place, it was on the internet.”
And yet nobody has been able to find it.
Even worse, Trump then used this nonexistent “proof” to stir up more bigotry and prejudice. All under the guise of patriotism.
TRUMP: Look, I’m only saying it because we have to be vigilant. I’m not saying it for any reason. I don’t want to stir anything up. But you have some people living here where we have some very, very serious problems. We have to be very careful. We have to be very vigilant.
But Hannity moved on to promoting Trump’s endorsement of waterboarding and didn't dwell on the ominous implications of Trump's latest ethnic target.
By the way, despite Hannity’s obvious love for torture and waterboarding other people, he’s too much of a coward to fulfill his pledge to undergo waterboarding himself. Today marks 2409 days, or 6 years, 7 months, 5 days since Hannity volunteered to be waterboarded for charity in order to prove it’s not torture.
Watch Hannity and Trump promote bigotry and torture as pro-American values, below, from the November 25 Hannity.
