Fox News television and radio host Sean Hannity took one for the Donald, coming out in a widely read blog post in the presidential hopeful’s defense – going so far as to take Glenn Beck’s most recent criticisms of the contender point by point, and to show why each was wrong.
Hannity’s defense came on the heels of Beck’s broadcast criticisms against him, as well as against conservative writer Ann Coulter and radio talkers Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh, for supporting an “unprincipled” and “unlikable” character like Trump for president, as Mediaite reported. Beck had also blasted his puzzlement at why “smart people” and “smart conservatives” would support Trump.
Beck posted, on his Facebook page: “What am I missing?”
In answer, Hannity wrote: “Glenn, you are a friend and a patriot who has asked an honest and thoughtful question and I will attempt to answer it. … You asked, ‘Can we actually have a civil discourse based on facts? Not on emotion or feelings?’ Of course we can!”
Hannity then warned leftists who sensed a conservative in-fight coming: Go home. Nothing to see.
Saying he was “personally UNDECIDED as to whom I will support in the GOP primaries,” Hannity noted that Republicans still have a long five-and-a-half months to decide.
“A lot can and will happen between now and then,” he wrote. “Some candidiates will trip and fall or stumble. Some will recover and others may not. Polls will shift, debates will hopefully enlighten and voters (that is THE AMERICAN PEOPLE) will decide which way this is going to go.”
Hannity then reminded: “This is not my first rodeo,” remarking on his 20 years with Fox News Channel. And, he said, as part of his job, he likes to have as many candidates as possible appear on his television and radio spots.
“I feel I can best serve both my television and radio audiences by giving them as much access as possible to all of the candidates so they can make an informed decision in the primary,” he wrote. “For example, in just the last 2 weeks I have had on both radio and TV Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry, and Chris Christie. I have given many of the candidates a FULL hour on my TV show, as well. My plan is to continue to offer all the candidates more airtime throughout the entire process.”
Hannity ran down a numbered list of 20 items he believes the next president would need to address, from confronting Russia’s President Putin to naming America’s enemy as radical Islamism to giving parents more school choice. Shortly after, he opined on the pros of each of the many Republican candidates currently seeking the high office, from Gov. Mike Huckabee and his “commitment to religious freedom” to Carly Fiorina and her “confronting [of] Hillary Clinton’s moral, ethical and legal deficiencies,” to Sen. Ted Cruz and his admirable willingness “to fight.”
Finally, he defended Trump, starting with the businessman’s ability to attract “24 million Americans, by far a cable television record,” to the recent debate.
“Kudos to Donald Trump,” he wrote, “creating an audience that not only benefited him, but every other candidate and the entire country. He single-handedly made politics refreshingly fun, unpredictable and interesting. That is a great benefit to the country.”
Hannity went on to speak of Trump’s favor with the American people, and the inability of Beck to understand the motive of this attraction.
“Why, at this early stage, would you be so dismissive [of Trump]?” Hannity asked, pointing to the candidate’s track record of success, his vow to “make America great again,” promise to “stand up to China” and “straight talking, non-politically correct” political speeches that drive home the need to “secure the border.”
Admittedly, Trump is not humble, Hannity said. But he’s also morphed on some the very policies Beck criticized him for advocating in the past, Hannity wrote. Case in point: Trump was once for an assault weapon ban, but “now has a pistol carry-permit in [New York City] and said he believes law-abiding Americans should have the right to ‘carry,'” Hannity wrote.
“In conclusion … I am glad Donald Trump is in this race,” Hannity wrote. “I like his straightforward outsider’s view of politics. His personality and background are impressive and refreshing. I like anybody who is not politically correct. I hope his outspokenness and his courage rubs off on his fellow Republicans, who have all become stale, timid, weak, and generally (especially in DC) useless. Many Republicans can learn a thing or two from Trump.”
