Hannity Calls The Shutdown He Campaigned For “The Obama-Reid Shutdown”

Written by Justin Berrier

Published

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After insisting that House Republicans hold the line on budget negotiations, Fox News' Sean Hannity used the resulting government shutdown to attack Democrats, labeling it the “Obama-Reid shutdown.”

On the October 9 edition of his Fox show, Hannity labeled the government shutdown the “Obama-Reid shutdown,” claiming the Obama administration is targeting veterans and children with cancer as a way to cause political pain:

Hannity was one of the loudest voices in the right-wing media urging the House Republicans not to give in, even if it meant shutting down the government. On the October 1 edition of his radio show, Hannity said, “My advice to the Republicans: Hold the line. Stand on your principles. Stand with the American people. Stand for the best health care system.”

Later that day on his Fox News program, Hannity told Sen. Rand Paul that he Republicans should not “give in at all” and “sit it out” even if the shutdown lasted months:

HANNITY: I think the worst outcome, though, for the Republicans in the House at this point -- as they have been reasonable and the president totally unreasonable, Reid unreasonable -- is to cave. I don't think they should give in at all. And if that means that they're going to sit this out for a month or two months or however long the president wants to be arrogant and not talk to anybody, then just sit it out.

In March, Hannity urged Republicans to shut the government down as a way to repeal the Affordable Care Act:

HANNITY: Republicans right now, if they really want to -- not just symbolically -- if they want to repeal health care, Dr. [Ben] Carson, Obamacare, they've got to shut the government down and be labeled 'the full faith and credit of the United States is in jeopardy.' Which is not true. But if they really want to do that, that's what it will take. I want them to do it.

While he has been one of the shutdown's foremost supporters, Hannity is far from the only right-wing media figure to advocate for it. His Fox colleagues Laura Ingraham, Erick Erickson, Sarah Palin, and Todd Starnes have all promoted the shutdown as a way to defund or repeal the Affordable Care Act.