Sean Hannity continued his McCarthy-esque attacks on the press last night by singling out CNN’s Jeff Zeleny for the “crime” of calling out Donald Trump’s baseless claim that he lost the popular vote because “millions” voted illegally. Yet Hannity never provided any evidence that Zeleny was wrong.
Last week, Hannity all but demanded a Trump-loyalty test for any reporter who wanted to cover his beloved president- elect. Apparently, Hannity thinks the press’ job is to write only admiring stories about the president (unless he or she is a Democrat, in which case no smear is too low). Even when Trump makes the childishly ridiculous claim that he would have won the popular vote, “if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally”:
In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016
But because CNN’s Zeleny thinks his responsibility is to the truth and not Republican politics, he has been attacked first by Trump and then by Trump’s loyal lieutenant disguised as a cable news host, Hannity.
In case you missed Trump’s Twitter tantrum about Zeleny, here are a few selections:
.@CNN is so embarrassed by their total (100%) support of Hillary Clinton, and yet her loss in a landslide, that they don't know what to do.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016
"@FiIibuster: @jeffzeleny Pathetic - you have no sufficient evidence that Donald Trump did not suffer from voter fraud, shame! Bad reporter.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016
It’s worth pointing out that Zeleny replied to Trump by asking for examples of voter fraud and promising to investigate them.
@realDonaldTrump Good evening! Have been looking for examples of voter fraud. Please send our way. Full-time journalist here still working.
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) November 29, 2016
But Hannity (and, apparently, Trump) ignored the opportunity to prove their case.
Instead, Hannity went on a tirade against CNN, suggested the network should be banned from the White House press pool and once again showed himself to be an enemy of the First Amendment.
Fortunately for what’s left of our democracy, neither of Hannity’s two guests, Trumpkin Laura Ingraham (identified as a possible Trump press secretary) and Ari Fleischer, Republican press secretary under George W. Bush, went along with Hannity’s plan
But given Hannity’s double duty as both a TV and radio host and a Trump adviser, his comments are not just disturbing but dangerously anti-American.
Transcript excerpts via Media Matters:
HANNITY: The abusively biased mainstream media, they continue to prove they’re fundamentally incapable of covering president-elect Donald Trump fairly. Now CNN, the Clinton news network, they continually go after president-elect Trump. Just take a look at this report from Jeff Zeleny. Take a look.
[...]
HANNITY: Is that fair and balanced? Now, president-elect Trump, he responded by retweeting criticisms of Zeleny’s report and then tweeted himself, quote, “CNN is so embarrassed by their total 100 percent support of Hillary Clinton and yet her loss and a landslide, they don’t know what to do.” And then later he added, quote, “I thought that at CNN would get better after they failed so badly in their support of Hillary Clinton, however since the election, they are worse!”
[…]
Now I’ve been saying since 2008 journalism is dead and those are only a few of the countless examples that prove it. But the liberal mainstream media, they’re not interested in the truth or the facts, they’re all about pushing their radical left wing agenda. What are they trying to do? Damage president-elect Donald Trump.
[…]
I think it’s time to reevaluate the press and maybe change the traditional relationship with the press and the White House. For example, would president Obama allow 50 Sean Hannitys in the press pool, asking him and his press secretary questions every single day? No, of course not. So, my message tonight to the press is simple. You guys are done. You’ve been exposed as fake, as having an agenda, as colluding. You’re a fake news organization.
Watch Hannity continue to wage war on the First Amendment below, from the November 29, 2016 Hannity show.
We need to be prepared for this kind of behavior, and a lot more of it. Hannity certainly won’t be stopping this anytime soon. He intends to get away with as much of it as he can, for as long as he can – just as the new Trump Administration will be doing the same on a national level.
So it makes perfect sense that he would go on the attack against everybody else in the entire media system. Doesn’t matter whether that makes any sense. He just hates them and he thinks he has the cover of Trump’s squeaker to get away with this stuff. For now, he does. In a couple of years, if Trump’s presidency is mired in scandal, corruption and an even angrier electorate? Probably not so much.
But I find it chilling that he’s using language like “colluding” to discuss how the media called Trump out on his repeated hateful statements and his falsehoods. Saying that journalism somehow translates to “colluding with Hillary Clinton” is a REALLY scary piece of business. Hannity is trying to get away with saying that if you don’t fully support someone like Trump, you are somehow conspiring with an enemy. Hannity has also described Dems and Clinton supporters as “evil”. It’s frankly troubling to see Hannity not only getting away with the bullying and the meanness, but now taking his attacks to that level. And this is only the beginning.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/d6k41y/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-adapting-to-donald-trump-s-lies
Is the irony lost on Sean Hannity?
Does the bear shit in the woods?
Is the Pope Catholic?
Fox News endlessly refers to Obama as being “narcissistic”. Here we have yet another example of supreme narcissist The Donald throwing a fit when his thin skin is pierced yet Fox won’t call him on it. No, they back up his narcissism.