Why angry ‘Trump superfans' are turning against 'terrible journalist' Sean Hannity: report

29 December 2022

After the 2020 presidential election, Fox News’ Sean Hannity was more than happy to have attorney Sidney Powell on his show and let her promote the false claim that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. Powell, Fox News, Newsmax TV, One America News (OAN) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani have all faced major defamation lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems, which many MAGA Republicans falsely accused of helping Democrats steal the election.

But when Hannity sat for a deposition on December 21 in connection with Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox News, he was in no hurry to promote the Big Lie. Hannity, under oath, was asked about Powell’s Dominion-related claims and admitted, “I did not believe it for one second.”

Dominion’s defamation lawsuits against Fox News and others are civil lawsuits, but lying under oath in a deposition is a criminal matter. And legal experts have argued that Hannity, during that deposition, obviously wasn’t about to risk criminal charges. Promoting nonsense on the air to drive ratings is one thing; lying under oath is quite another.

Hannity’s critics on the left, along with Never Trump conservatives, have been slamming the far-right Fox News host for giving Powell a platform in the first place. But Trump loyalists, according to the Daily Beast’s Zachary Petrizzo, are lambasting Hannity for rejecting the Big Lie during that December 21 deposition.

“Sean Hannity, once the most important mouthpiece for Donald Trump, seems to be increasingly on the MAGA World outs,” Petrizzo explains in an article published by the Beast on December 29. “And a new revelation that Hannity doesn’t buy the Big Lie isn’t helping. In a just-released deposition surrounding Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit, the Fox News star said he’d never believed — not ‘for one second’ — baseless election fraud claims stemming from the 2020 election. That stance, directly at odds with many of his prime-time segments and the beliefs of many of his closest allies, has put Hannity in an awkward position.”

The MAGA Republicans who believe that Hannity has betrayed Trump, Petrizzo reports, include attorney Lin Wood, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, radio host Stew Peters, and Steve Bannon (host of the “War Room” podcast and former White House chief strategist in the Trump Administration).

Wood told the Beast that he is “very disappointed” and “unhappy” with Hannity. And Lindell told the Beast, “Sean Hannity is disgusting. He’s a terrible journalist that does not do his job or his diligence…. He doesn’t seem to have any concern over any election problems in the country, and it’s disgusting.”

Another far-right Trump devotee who is attacking Hannity is conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec.

Petrizzo observes, “Bannon wrote that Hannity should face ‘accountability’ for ‘TERRIBLE advice’ to Trump, while Posobiec has taken a series of jabs at the Fox News host, including posting a picture of Hannity alongside CNN host Don Lemon and Michael Avenatti. Trump superfan Bill Mitchell responded to Hannity’s deposition remarks by writing, ‘And just like that, Hannity ends his career.’ Hannity’s also been called a ‘fraud’ by conservative commentators. Far-right radio host Stew Peters has labeled the Fox News host a ‘clown’ following his voter fraud boomerang. ‘He regularly washes and dries Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer’s jock straps,’ Peters told The Daily Beast.”

Even Trump himself, according to Beast sources, is apparently angry with Hannity. One source in “MAGA World,” Petrizzo reports, told the Beast, “In terms of direct contact with Sean, I think it’s been a while.”

A Trump adviser, also quoted anonymously, told the Beast, “Hannity was his lapdog for years, but just like everyone else who’s been Trump’s bitch at one point or another, the second Trump finds a reason to throw them in the garbage, he takes it.”

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