Hannity Spent Final Two Weeks Of 2016 Campaign Pushing Conspiracy Theories And Smears

Hannity Invited Discredited Tabloid Editor Jeff Rovin On His Prime-Time Show To Claim He Worked As Bill And Hillary Clinton’s “Fixer.” Following a National Enquirer story that claimed science fiction writer and former editor of the Weekly World News tabloid Jeff Rovin was Bill and Hillary Clinton’s “fixer,” Hannity invited Rovin on his prime-time Fox News show to repeat his false claim. Rovin’s work in science-fiction include multiple books he co-wrote with the novelist Tom Clancy as well as writing novels based off the characters created by Clancy. According to a 2007 Kansas City Star article, Rovin also worked as an editor for the now-defunct supermarket tabloid the Weekly World News which published stories they claimed “revealed Hillary Clinton's affair with a spindly space alien named P'lod.” [Media Matters, 10/24/16]

Hannity Offered To Pay For A Charter Plane To Take Obama To Kenya. On his radio show, Hannity “offer[ed]” to “charter a plane” for President Obama and his family to “go to Kenya,” but added, “I have one stipulation, you can't come back.” Hannity later explained away his comment following heavy criticism claiming it was simply “an experiment about our corrupt media.” [Media Matters, 10/25/16; Media Matters, 10/26/16]

Hannity Lashed Out At “Idiot” Evan McMullin For “Killing Trump Out In Utah.” Hannity complained about the “never Trumper jerks out there” who refuse to support Trump, and independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, asking, “Who's this idiot that's running third party that's killing Trump out in Utah?” From the October 26 edition of Premiere Radio Networks’ The Sean Hannity Show:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): In 13 freaking days -- oh, we got to tell the story, you're right. In 13 days, we're either going to make a decision to keep screwing the country up, or we're going to make a decision to try and fix it. That's what's at stake here.

[...]

All this garbage from you never Trumper jerks out there. I've had it. By the way, that's more unfinished business. November 9th, I have a lot to say about all of you. The CNN poll showed, what? If Trump got all these idiots, the ones that think they're freaking geniuses, or the most principled people on the face of the earth. You know, the purists, that if they would be voting for Trump -- granted, I'll admit he's not freaking perfect.

[...]

I have had it. 13 freaking days. Wake up. This can be won. But it's very, very hard. And I'm telling all of you who is important here. And basically every red state's important. If you think, “well, my state doesn't matter, it's Texas,” no, you better vote. “My state's Georgia,” well we've seen polls that are close in Georgia. “My state's Utah.” Who's this idiot that's running third party that's killing Trump out in Utah. Who put him up? What was it? The Bush people? The Romney people? Seriously? Really? You're going to elect Hillary because we lose Utah? What a disaster that would be for the country. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 10/26/16]

Hannity “Embraced A Piece Of Fake News About President Obama Deleting Endorsements Of Hillary Clinton From His Twitter Account.” Hannity promoted “a piece of fake news about President Obama deleting endorsements of Hillary Clinton from his Twitter account,” and “used the made-up news to claim that President Obama's legacy might be “jail.” Hannity later apologized for advancing this false news story, tweeting “correction. Live on radio I read a gateway pundit report that @MichelleObmaa had deleted mentions of HRC. And a listener said BHO and …” “Elizabeth Warren did same. Fact is they didn’t. I humbly apologize. Live radio.” [Media Matters, 11/1/16; Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 11/2/16]

Hannity Promoted A Story That Claims Hillary Clinton And Her Campaign Staff “Are Satanists Who Participate In Witchcraft.” According to The Daily Beast, on November 4, “Sean Hannity tweeted a story from his own website, along with its headline: “LEAKED EMAIL appears to link Clinton Campaign Chairman to bizarre occult ritual.” The article noted that “The conspiracy theory hinges on a WikiLeaks email hacked and stolen from Podesta’s account, in which his brother, high-powered lobbyist Tony Podesta, asks if he was free to attend a ‘spirit cooking dinner.’” From the November 4 article:

With four days left until the election, some of Donald Trump’s most trusted news sources spent the day flooding Twitter with a theory that a WikiLeaks email proves Hillary Clinton and her campaign are Satanists who participate in witchcraft.

The Drudge Report, the right’s internet firehose, featured as its lead story a headline suggesting that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta had been involved with occult activities linked to Satanism, complete with a photo of Hillary Clinton raging, arms outstretched, to the skies. Fox News's Sean Hannity tweeted a story from his own website, along with its headline: “LEAKED EMAIL appears to link Clinton Campaign Chairman to bizarre occult ritual”

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The conspiracy theory hinges on a WikiLeaks email hacked and stolen from Podesta’s account, in which his brother, high-powered lobbyist Tony Podesta, asks if he was free to attend a “spirit cooking dinner” hosted by performance artist Marina Abramović.

“I am so looking forward to the Spirit Cooking dinner at my place. Do you think you will be able to let me know if your brother is joining? All my love, Marina,” writes the artist, in June 2015. Tony forwards the email to his brother to ask—the entirety of the evidence to suggest that the Clinton campaign’s senior operative is involved with the occult. [The Daily Beast, 11/4/16]