Without evidence and against the wishes of the family, Fox News’ Sean Hannity continues to push a discredited conspiracy about the murder of Seth Rich. On his TV show and other platforms, Hannity is using the deceased DNC staffer as part of a desperate attempt to discredit t the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russian hackers sought to bolster Donald Trump’s presidential bid.
Hannity’s exploitation a young man’s murder has caused some advertisers to sever ties with him. But Hannity, notwithstanding his pledge to stop talking about Rich, has pressed forward. As recently as Tuesday night told his viewers he’d have “a lot more coming probably sooner than later” about Rich.
Vice President Mike Pence rewarded Hannity’s conduct with an appearance on his show Thursday night. The vice president came on to talk about Trump’s decision to leave the Paris Climate Accord following an opening monologue where Hannity — who has been working with a new right-wing group targeting liberal TV host’s advertisers for no particular reason — issued a thinly veiled threat to other hosts.
“Tonight, it is time to fight fire with fire,” Hannity said. “Where are the so-called champions of civil rights and freedom of speech on the left? Why aren’t liberal commentators like Bill Maher and Steve Colbert, why aren’t they speaking out defending freedom of speech? And by the way, why has not one liberal cable news host stood up for me and my right to freedom of speech?”
Hannity obliquely referred to the Rich situation during his interview with Pence.
“I’ve actually really be fighting for my career lately so I’ve been a little busy with other topics,” Hannity said, while introducing a fawning “question” to Pence.
“I think this is really the only show in America that has listed the president’s accomplishments, and I noticed when he was in the Rose Garden today that he went through part of that list that never seem to get reported,” Hannity continued. “What are you most proud of and what do you see coming?”
Hannity’s approach to interviewing Pence is in line with how he’s treated Trump. Hannity and Trump used a White House interview conducted the week after the inauguration to discredit other media outlets and uncritically restate Trump administration talking points.
After Hannity broached the topic of how other outlets have covered President Trump by saying, “the New York Times, CNN, ABC — they use the word liar to describe you,” Trump interjected with, “these are very hostile, angry people… the media is very dishonest. They are very dishonest people.”
“I said journalism is dead, so we agree,” Hannity replied. He also said the media “colluded against you on the campaign.”
During the Republican primaries, Hannity interviewed Trump 41 times without ever coming even close to making news. He asked questions like, “I’m sure you wish you were wrong, Mr. Trump, but you were right. What did you see that maybe others didn’t see about what was happening in Brussels and Belgium?”