Conservative radio host Sean Hannity rightly defended President Donald Trump’s ten-year-old son, Barron, as off limits from attacks in the media by claiming that conservatives afforded President Obama’s daughters the same courtesy. But right-wing media had a field day attacking Sasha and Malia Obama throughout President Obama’s term, including Sean Hannity, who berated the Obama girls for going on Spring Break vacations.

Hannity argued that the media should leave President Trump’s son alone following news that a writer from Saturday Night Live was suspended for tweets about Barron. He claimed that the media should “leave the kids of politicians alone,” and said that he “never would” attack a politician’s kids, including President Obama’s daughters. From the January 27 edition of The Sean Hannity Show:

SEAN HANNITY(HOST): I will say one other thing. I did bring this up also last night. The way the media and these leftist snowflakes have treated this poor ten-year-old kid. Alright, I'm the only one that actually knows him. I met him, I shook his hand, I talked to him. The kid is a great kid. He's incredibly bright, smart, polite. You know, he's like a dream kid. “Hi Mr. Hannity, how are you? It's very nice to meet you. It's an honor to meet you.” And I remember being blown away. Melania had to introduce me to Barron. He's such a good kid and I have these words for the media: leave the 10-year-old boy alone. Just like we conservatives left the Obama daughters alone. Leave the kids of politicians alone.

[...]

If conservatives ever did this -- and by the way, I never would. It seems -- I’ll say this about Michelle and Barack Obama. Their kids seem lovely to me. I can’t stand that pettiness, where you’re involving children in these discussions. It’s pathetic

Hannity is correct that the president’s children should always be off limits from media attacks, but the hypocrisy does not go unnoticed: He and other conservatives did in fact attack President Obama’s daughters mercilessly. Conservative radio hosts Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh mocked Malia Obama to attack President Obama’s policies. Beck later apologized, saying, “The children of public figures should be left on the sidelines.”

Hannity also attacked the president’s daughters. During an April 2013, edition of his Fox News show, Hannity had an on-air meltdown about “the girls” going to the Bahamas and Idaho during their Spring Break. Despite criticism from former Fox contributor Kirsten Powers, Hannity argued, “we have to pay for the security, which is the right thing to do, but not one vacation -- they just went on two Spring Break vacations. … That’s my money.”