Hannity Lashes Out At “Comparing People To Nazis”

HANNITY: Where is the President Obama, Joe, from a week ago? Where's the guy a week ago that was lecturing America about civility. Here his party is comparing republicans to Nazis. Here another Democrat suggesting, you repeal health care, you are killing people. Where's the president?

JOE TRIPPI (Fox News contributor): Well, Sean, I mean the president can call for it, but that doesn't mean that peace is going to break out on both sides. I mean, I think he shouldn't have said this. I think we need to be civil, but I'm shocked - shocked -- that within days people aren't being civil to each other. I mean, I thought that was crazy from the get go.

HANNITY: No, no, no. This is beyond. Comparing people to Nazis? Saying, you repeal health care you are killing people. This is not -- we are not talking about a target here. We are talking about an accusation you are going to murder somebody if you don't agree with their legislation. [Fox News, Hannity, 1/20/11]

Hannity Himself Has Invoked The Nazis To Attack Democrats

Hannity: Using Quran For Swearing-In Is Same As Using A “Nazi Bible.” On the November 30, 2006, edition of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity said that Rep. Keith Ellison using a copy of the Quran during his swearing-in ceremony “will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones” and is comparable to using “Hitler's Mein Kampf ... the Nazis' bible.” [Fox News, Hannity & Colmes, 11/30/06]

Fox Chairman Roger Ailes Doubles Down On Nazi Rhetoric

Fox News Has A Long History Of Invoking Nazis And Holocaust Imagery To Attack Progressive Figures. Fox News personalities, notably Glenn Beck, have an extensive record of comparing progressives to Nazis. [Media Matters for America, 1/20/11]

Ailes: NPR Executives Have A “Nazi Attitude. They Are The Left Wing Of Nazism.” In a November 2010 Daily Beast interview with Howard Kurtz, Ailes called NPR “Nazis,” adding “they have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism.” From The Daily Beast:

The onetime Republican strategist is a man of strong opinions, in case that wasn't clear, and he also puts his money where his mouth is. When Juan Williams was fired by National Public Radio for remarks he made on Fox about fearing airplane passengers in Muslim garb, Ailes rushed to award him a three-year, $2 million contract.

“A guy who gets fired and humiliated in the press can lose a lot of confidence,” Ailes says. Calling Williams “a pure liberal,” Ailes says he wanted to compensate the pundit for his losses because he was “mad” and “I didn't want him to have to call his wife and say we lost money.”

Then he turned his sights on NPR executives.

“They are, of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism. These guys don't want any other point of view. They don't even feel guilty using tax dollars to spout their propaganda. They are basically Air America with government funding to keep them alive.”

It's hardly surprising that Ailes would defend Williams or castigate NPR. But trotting out such Third Reich rhetoric seems, shall we say, disproportionate to the situation. NPR spokeswoman Anna Christopher says only that “we will let Mr. Ailes' words speak for themselves.” [Daily Beast, 11/17/10]

Ailes Apologizes For Nazi Comments to ADL. According to Politico, Ailes apologized to the Anti-Defamation League for invoking the Nazis in his comments, but according to NPR, Ailes did not apologize to NPR executives themselves. [Politico, 11/18/10, NPR, 11/19/10]