Donald Trump and the night time anchors of Fox News had a symbiotic relationship. The anchors heaped praise on the former president and pushed even his most ludicrous ideas. In return, Trump gave the Fox network huge ratings and unprecedented access.
And most of the Fox personalities seemed ok with Trump’s lies following the 2020 election. But according to a new book, Sean Hannity was upset with Trump’s behavior and the men are no longer friends.
The book, written by CNN’s Brian Stelter, is called Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth. In an excerpt shared with the press, Stelter writes:
“The calls (between the two men) and counseling continued right up until Election Day-when the relationship between the two men began to break down. Hannity, according to one source, was ‘disgusted’ by some of Trump’s election denialism.”
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The author notes that he was surprised by the news. He continues, “Hannity kept inviting Kayleigh McEnany to hold up packets of paper and swear that the legal path to a second term was right around the corner, even though Trump’s suits were laughed out of court left and right. McEnany and other Hannity guests filled the Fox audience with false hope night after night and never, ever delivered.”
Stelter’s hypothesis is that while Hannity was upset with Trump’s behavior, his audience ate it up. So he continued to push the big lie. One Fox insider told the CNN reporter, “Sean knows the audience better than anyone.”
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.
