How Sean Hannity became Russia state TV's useful idiot
Well, in our country he’s a useless idiot, but the Russians have managed to find a use for him other than converting oxygen to carbon dioxide to feed their beets.
The Russian government-owned Rossiya 1 news channel recently broadcasted excerpts from Fox News primetime host Sean Hannity’s on-air monologue, which hammered “media hysteria” over the report and allegations of campaign “collusion” with the Russian government.In its own editorializing, Rossiya 1 described the report as “bestseller about the absence of collusion between Trump and Russia,” and blamed the political press and U.S. intelligence agencies for “hounding Trump” over the allegations, according to a translation by journalist and Daily Beast contributor Julia Davis.
#Russia's state TV broadcasts Hannity's commentary, attacking the #MuellerReport in perfect synchrony with the Krem… https://t.co/JovqXBbRou— Julia Davis (@Julia Davis) 1555854375
No collusion? Really? Well, of course, there’s this bit, which sounds pretty bad:
The social media campaign and the GRU hacking operations coincided with a series of contacts between Trump Campaign officials and individuals with ties to the Russian government. The Office investigated whether those contacts reflected or resulted in the Campaign conspiring or coordinating with Russia in its election-interference activities. Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
So the Trump campaign knew about Russia’s attack on our country and not only did nothing about it, but expected to benefit from the attacks — while continually lying about its Russian contacts. Sweet!
And then there was that mountain of evidence about obstruction.
But, sure, Hannity’s take is certainly the most accurate and representative example of U.S. media coverage. So, sure, go with that.
And, hey, Hannity is now a propagandist on two continents! That’s actually really hard to do. Kudos, sir.
