Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday called MSNBC host Rachel Maddow a “make-believe journalist,” “conspiracy theorist” and a “tinfoil hat”-wearing peddler of lies. (Watch the videos below.)
Hannity’s hatchet job on Maddow took up a good portion of a long diatribe against mainstream media ― but his ire was clearly sparked by Maddow’s explanation for MSNBC not airing Donald Trump’s Iowa caucus victory speech live on Monday.
Maddow told viewers there was a “cost” to news organizations in providing an “unfiltered” platform for Trump and “knowingly broadcasting untrue things.” She said the network would provide updates if Trump said anything substantive.
Hannity played a snippet of Trump’s comments.
“As you just heard during his victory speech, Donald Trump struck what was a unifying tone,” the host said. “But apparently, according to part-time make-believe journalist and full-time left-wing, hate-Trump conspiracy theorists like radical Rachel Maddow, Trump’s speech was too dangerous for the fragile ears of NBC’s loyal viewers. They didn’t take any of the speech live. Instead, no, Miss Maddow was lecturing Americans about truth and integrity.”
Hannity continued, “This is a joke, right? Serious question: Does Maddow not have any self-awareness at all? No one in the media mob has peddled more lies, more conspiracy theories than Rachel Maddow. Every night for about five solid years, and it still goes on to this day, Maddow proudly donned that tinfoil hat and spread some of the most insane, craziest conspiracy theories that we’ve ever heard.”
Hannity took issue with Maddow’s Russia investigation coverage, among other things, accusing her of “pushing insane fake stories.”
Hannity also got personal with CNN’s Jake Tapper, who talked over Trump’s speech to point out that the former president and GOP front-runner was “repeating his anti-immigrant rhetoric.”
The rightwing Fox News personality, a staunch Trump ally, said Tapper thought it was “more important to trash Trump’s speech in real-time.”
“Jake Tapper is not a journalist,” Hannity said. “He’s a political hack. He’s a Democratic operative.”
He continued, “He’s living a lie,” adding he was fueled by “supreme hatred for all things Donald Trump.”
Hannity’s remarks may come off as wildly hypocritical given Fox News’ promotion of Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. The conservative network paid $787.5 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems after advancing false accusations that the company rigged the results.
Now, it faces a claim in the billions of dollars by Smartmatic for similar reasons.
Here’s a longer look:
HuffPost has reached out to Maddow and Tapper for comment through their networks.