The Daily Gamecock

Opinion: Throw out the whole Hannity

Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity does the 15th anniversary of his Fox News show ''Hannity'' at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, October 7, 2011. (Erik Lesser/Zuma Press/MCT)
Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity does the 15th anniversary of his Fox News show ''Hannity'' at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, October 7, 2011. (Erik Lesser/Zuma Press/MCT)

2016 was a watershed year in politics and it generated a long list of winners and losers for the conservative side. Thanks to the rise of Donald Trump, many conservative politicians have found themselves between a rock and a hard place in trying to appease the new administration while also sticking to their Republican roots.

Paul Ryan, who was once the fresh-faced Romney running mate turned Speaker of the House, is a prime example of this, as his career lies in shambles after announcing an early retirement. Glenn Beck, the once the Fox News darling of conspiracy theorists, shot his own career in the foot when he compared Donald Trump to Hitler in 2016. However, no destruction of a single person, congressman or political commentator can compare to the revelations about the non-journalist Sean Hannity’s ethical misdeeds and how it reflects on Fox News as an institution.

In case you have been living under a rock, Sean Hannity has been added to the cast of swamp creatures close to Donald Trump. During a hearing related to the Mueller investigation, Hannity was named as a client of Trump’s personal lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen. Now this in and of itself seems harmless enough, but when you consider how Hannity has supported Trump on Fox News, it begins to seem more like a conflict of interest. 

Further digging on the part of the liberal media revealed that Hannity bought $90 mil. of real estate with the help of dozens of shell companies, behind which Hannity pulled the levers like the wizard in the Wizard of Oz. These transactions were approved by U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development, the secretary of which is none other than Ben Carson. Of course, Hannity failed to mention his financial dealings with HUD during his praising interview with Carson.

Now I must say that the allegations of corruption against Hannity are shocking, especially for someone as well known as the television star. I also expected his career on Fox to be cut short, as I would with any other media figure on any other news network. Can you imagine if someone like Anderson Cooper or Lester Holt engaged in the same activities as Sean Hannity? They would most certainly be sent to the liberal media gulag and never heard from again. Fox News, however, is framing the incident as a battle between Hannity and the mainstream media, who in its indescribable evil is reporting on events that occurred in objective reality rather than twisting the story into a righteous brawl between right and wrong.

I think the solution is simple: Get Sean Hannity off Fox News. It has been demonstrated that he uses his position for his own benefit and as a consequence he should be removed from that place of privilege. If conservatives want to say they believe in a meritocracy, where nobody gets ahead without having earned it, they should have the intellectual honesty to call for the removal of someone who does not demonstrate the merit or integrity to fill the job they are in.

To be clear, Sean Hannity as an entity is not permanently tied with Fox. He maintains his own website, the humbly-named Hannity.com, where he hosts his own radio show and writes articles. Interestingly, the front page of Hannity’s digital safe space already has two individual stories that defend the questionable investments with barely 100 words each that sound more akin to “I know you are, but what am I?”

I think Sean needs to go. For the sake of whatever credibility Fox News still has and Hannity’s career, the best thing for both groups to do is to let the issue die quietly after parting ways.


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