Sean Hannity didn’t utter a peep of concern about Trump’s corrupt fascism.
During Hannity’s suck up “town hall” with Trump, Hannity tried to urge his Bedtime BFF to at least tone down his childish name calling for the sake of getting re-elected.
Not that Hannity had the guts to come out and say so. He pretended he was asking for a friend. Even so, the audience booed him for suggesting Trump should behave like a decent adult.
HANNITY: I’ve asked you this question before, and it comes up a lot.
People know that I’ve interviewed you all these years. I have known you almost 30 years. And people ask me to say to him, why does he have to fight so hard? Why doesn't he pick his fights a little more? Why does he have to call people names?
And the only reason I think this is an important question is because these -- I think everyone here tonight is likely voting for you, right? So...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: However...
TRUMP: I hope so.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: ... it's going to come down to those people that maybe you're in the middle a little more.
And the argument that they make to me is, if he would just tone it down a hair, stop a little of the name-calling...
(BOOING)
HANNITY: Hang on. I said it's their question. Leave me alone. All right -- that it might help you with swing voters and -- that are needed for you to get over the finish line. It's already hard enough, electoral vote-wise, for a Republican to win. What do you say to them?
Trump’s answer? That his childish attacks are part of his winning formula – and never mind that he lost the 2020 election nor that while Trump boasted about being “tough guy” he also portrayed himself as the biggest victim, maybe of all time:
TRUMP: I say this to everybody. I won an election. It was unprecedented. We beat somebody that supposedly had it made, and they probably did things in that election too. They were shocked. But I came into office. And from the day I got in, I was under siege by people that have been in Washington for many years, put in there by many different presidents, in most cases, people that were against me.
Like, they spied on my campaign. They did all sorts of things. I was under investigation and under siege, and so were my people. And if I wasn't tough, I wouldn't be here right now. I guarantee you that.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: If I didn't fight back, I wouldn't be here.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Then Trump indicated he plans to purge the Justice Department and install loyalist puppets:
TRUMP: What they did is so bad, and they’ve been caught.
Now, so far, nothing's happened to them of consequence. We had an attorney general, Bill Barr, who didn't have the courage to fight. He just didn't have the courage. He was a nice man, but he didn't have the courage. He lost his courage when they wanted to impeach him. They said, we're going to impeach Bill Barr.
They didn't even know why. There was no reason to impeach him. He didn't do anything wrong. But he didn't have the courage. We need courage in this country, or we're going to lose our country.
And how did Hannity react to this anti-Americanism? By saying “all right” and moving to a question from the audience.
Earlier this week, I wrote about how scared, if not panicked, Trump seemed during this event. This screen grab is a good indication.
Yes, Trump is in deep legal hot water. But he’s also the frightened front runner for the Republican presidential nomination right now – and a frightened bully is a dangerous bully. Especially if he acquires power.
You can see how Trump is both dangerous and terrified below, from the June 1, 2023 Hannity.
The enlightened men who wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights were motivated by a serious intent on preventing the return of any form of authoritarianism. I do sincerely hope that the system of checks and balances will succeed in preventing that from happening.
Hannity’s oh-so-delicate, unowned (’I’m just asking on behalf of others’), fruitless effort to nudge Trump in the direction of civility reminds me of Hannity’s last interview with Trump on Fox, when Hannity feebly tried and miserably failed to nudge Trump away from supporting Putin. Incidentally, if memory serves, in that last interview neither Hannity (nor frankly anyone else) seemed to notice that Trump suggested Ukraine would lose its war with Russia.