Sean Hannity exchanged over 80 texts with Mark Meadows between Election Night 2020 and Biden’s inauguration

Following the 2020 presidential election, Fox News’ Sean Hannity was more than happy to promote Donald Trump’s false claim that the election was stolen from him — even though recount after recount after recount made it abundantly clear that now-President Joe Biden won the election legitimately. But according to reporting from CNN, text messages obtained by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s select committee on the January 6, 2021 insurrection find the Fox News carnival barker criticizing the “lunatics” he believed were harmful to Trump’s efforts after the election.

Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb, Elizabeth Stuart and Brian Stelter of CNN report, “Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Fox’s Sean Hannity exchanged more than 80 text messages between Election Day 2020 and Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration, communications that show Hannity’s evolution from staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump’s election lies to being ‘fed up’ with the ‘lunatics’ hurting Trump’s cause in the days before January 6.”

CNN, the journalists report, has “obtained Meadows’ 2319 text messages, which he selectively provided in December to the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.”

“While the logs show Meadows communicating with multiple Fox personalities, as well as a number of journalists from other organizations, Hannity stands out with 82 messages,” they explain. “The texts, including dozens of newly disclosed messages, offer a real-time window into how Hannity, a close friend of Trump, was reacting to the election and its aftermath. Throughout the logs, Hannity both gives advice and asks for direction, blurring the lines between his Fox show, his radio show and the Trump White House.”

In a December 12, 2020 text to Meadows, according to CNN, Hannity wrote, “I truly feel sorry for our friend. He’s never had a days peace. On the other side of this, he’s exposed a very dark side of the swamp that’s far worse than I ever imagined and I am not particularly optimistic for the future.”