The National Rifle Association will feature Fox News' Sean Hannity during the 7th Annual NRA Women's Leadership Forum Luncheon, despite his association with a group whose leadership has claimed that one of America's greatest mistakes was allowing women to vote.
Hannity is slated to be the keynote speaker at the NRA Women's Leadership Forum Luncheon, “a coalition of philanthropic women united ... for Second Amendment freedoms,” to be held at the NRA's annual meeting on May 3. Hannity is also an advisory board member of the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, whose founder has come under fire for making radical statements against women.
In a testimonial on BOND's website, Hannity writes, “BOND has played an instrumental role in helping young men and women build lives which will help inspire the next generation. BOND continues to fight the good fight standing for the values of God, family, and country, and are deserving of our support.”
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, the founder and president of BOND, was the subject of widespread criticism after engaging in an anti-women diatribe during a March 2012 sermon where he claimed “one of the greatest mistakes that America made was to allow women the opportunity to vote.”
In his remarks, which were highly critical of women's health activist Sandra Fluke, Peterson also said, “A few out there are logical women, can make sound decisions. But most cannot. And the unfortunate thing is that they are in powerful positions, they are running businesses and things like that. And the one thing I know for sure, without a doubt, women cannot handle power. It's not in them to handle power in the right way. They don't know what to do with it.”
Even after these remarks were publicized, Hannity invited Peterson to appear on Fox News' Hannity as a member of his “Great American Panel” to discuss the one year anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death. While introducing Peterson, Hannity noted that he is a BOND board member, and added that CNN's Howard Kurtz “whines about it like a big baby” when he doesn't disclose his BOND affiliation when hosting Peterson.
During the segment, panelist Kirsten Powers, a Fox News contributor, indicated that she was going to “hijack” Hannity's show to confront Peterson about his views on women. Peterson defended his statements by saying, “liberal Democrat women are calling themselves whores” and added that “most Americans know that liberal women are destroying the family, they hate men, they hate society as it is.”
From the May 1, 2012 edition of Hannity:
According to a Nexis search, Peterson has been interviewed by Hannity at least 11 times over the past five years. On the website for Hannity's radio show, which has also hosted Peterson as a guest, Peterson is described as “the most courageous, outspoken critic of the liberal left and the so-called 'black leadership' in America today.”