Fox has confirmed that it did not know about a recent Trump promotional video featuring Sean Hannity, and that Hannity would not be appearing in similar videos in the future.
In the eight-minute video, which is aimed at gun-rights activists and hunters and called #HeartlandforTrump, Hannity appears with other Trump surrogates like Mark Geist, the Benghazi survivor, and the candidate’s son Donald Trump Jr. In his segment, Hannity speaks for about 30 seconds and extols the virtues of a Trump presidency, including looser gun laws, stricter immigration laws, and the dismantling of Obamacare.
While Fox News seemed genuinely surprised by the existence of the video, Hannity has made no secret of his outspoken support for Trump. Hannity has spent the election singing the candidate’s praises on his nightly Fox News show and national radio program, hosting notoriously softball town hall forums for Trump, and even flying Newt Gingrich — who was being vetted as a possible vice-presidential candidate — to a meeting with Trump in Indianapolis on his private jet.
While his behavior has raised red flags in certain journalistic ethics circles, Hannity has never really seen what all the fuss was about. “I’m not a journalist, I’m a talk show host,” he declared on his radio show in April. “If I’m interviewing Hillary Clinton, it’s gonna be a hundred times harder than any Republican, because I believe the Republicans represent, and have, a far better vision, one that I agree with,” he continues. “I just have less disagreement with ’em.”
Now it appears he’s finally gone too far for Fox News. A spokesperson for the network confirmed on Tuesday in a statement to Politico that it was “not aware of Sean Hannity participating in a promotional video and he will not be doing anything along these lines for the remainder of the election season.”
The spokesperson would not confirm or deny whether Hannity would face any disciplinary action. Hannity was already scheduled to host a Trump town hall event on the network this Wednesday.
