Sean Hannity hosted presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney for a 16 minute interview last night but failed to ask about comments in which Romney claimed “a lot of the credit” for saving the auto industry. Hannity did, however, find time to ask: “Do you believe that this President has failed in his time in office?”

Hannity has a long pattern of offering embattled right-wing figures safe refuge in the face of controversy. Last night's one-on-one with Romney definitely fit the pattern.

During a WEWS-TV interview, Romney said “I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy. And finally, when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back.”

Romney's claim generated many headlines because in a 2008 New York Times op-ed, Romney argued that a government bailout for auto companies would “virtually [guarantee]” the demise of the auto industry, and that a “managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs.”

Contrary to Romney's advice, the federal government did provide assistance, and economists and a key person who was part of the negotiations say that without assistance from the federal government, a bankruptcy of the auto industry would have likely resulted in liquidation, due to the lack of available private financing.

Even Fox Business' Lou Dobbs has highlighted the controversy. But not Hannity. Instead Hannity's viewers were treated to questions like this: