Former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden criticized Fox News’ Sean Hannity, commenting that Hannity “has entered the pantheon of a true propagandist,” after the Fox host expressed his admiration for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, which has released stolen emails of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Hannity wrote in an October 21 tweet that “In 10 yrs, [WikiLeaks] has gotten nothing wrong & no one’s been killed bc of the info released. #freejulianassange #freeinternet for all.” Although Hannity previously called for Assange’s “arrest” for what he described as “waging” a “war against the US,” Hannity admitted that “the only reason” he “likes Assange now is” because he promised to leak private emails from Clinton’s campaign staff.
Hayden responded to Hannity’s tweet calling him “a true propagandist,” and said that Fox News has “given up any semblance of conservatism and focused on an almost visceral hatred of all things Clinton and Obama.” From The Daily Beast’s October 24 post:
In a scorching statement, former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden blasted Fox News host Sean Hannity for his newfound love of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. “In 10 yrs @wikileaks has gotten nothing wrong & no one’s been killed bc of the info released. #freejulianassange #freeinternet for all,” Hannity tweeted over the weekend, continuing his recent trend of praising the man he once said was “waging war” on the U.S. and deserved to be arrested. In response, Hayden told Brookings Institute senior fellow Benjamin Wittes in a statement: “Hannity has entered the pantheon of a true propagandist.” Additionally, he wrote, “Fox News has almost entirely jumped the shark. They have given up any semblance of conservatism and focused on an almost visceral hatred of all things Clinton and Obama.” The four-star general—who has served in positions under Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama—concluded that Hannity reminds him a Bulgarian political official he met in the 1980s who, when asked what truth is, told Hayden, “Truth is what serves the party.”
Hannity has dedicated his coverage of the 2016 presidential election to propping up Donald Trump’s campaign. He has attempted to justified his numerous softball interviews with for Trump by arguing, that he’s “not a journalist,” he has attacked anyone who has criticized Trump, openly admitted on air that he will vote for Trump, and even lashed out at a Fox News colleague for pointing out Trump’s media retreat to Hannity’s show.