Erik Wemple • Opinion
President Trump is in constant contact with Sean Hannity. How long until he turns on him?
By Erik Wemple
May 14 at 3:01 PM ET
Fox News commentator Sean Hannity at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2016. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
At some point, President Trump’s political aides are going to revolt out of jealousy. Try as they might, they’ll never get access to, and respect from, the president equal to Fox News’s Sean Hannity. Further proof of the cable-news host’s esteem at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue comes from another piece of reporting on the dynamics the Hannity-Trump phone relationship. From New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi:
Their chats begin casually, with
How are yous and
What’s going ons. On some days, they speak multiple times, with one calling the other to inform him of the latest developments. White House staff are aware that the calls happen, thanks to the president entering a room and announcing, “I just hung up with Hannity,” or referring to what Hannity said during their conversations, or even ringing Hannity up from his desk in their presence.
This story keeps growing. We knew Hannity played an activist role in the Trump campaign, advising, promoting, cheerleading — even paying for campaign-related air travel at one point. We saw that the relationship, including a shared attorney, continued into the Trump presidency. And we learned that, as The Post recently reported, White House advisers are fond of referring to Hannity as the “shadow” chief of staff.
Without recordings of the calls, it’s difficult to determine a curious dynamic: Who influences whom more? Does Hannity’s impact on federal policy exceed Trump’s impact on the content of “Hannity”? Or is it the other way around? Parsing lines of causation between Fox News and President Trump could occupy a platoon of researchers for the rest of Trump’s term. Weeks ago, CNN published a video of clips titled, “From Fox hosts’ lips to the president’s ears” — purportedly to show how the network moved the president. Philip Bump of The Post then proceeded to show that, in fact, it is Trump who’s driving Fox News’s talking points.
Perhaps some Hannity-Trump tapes will leak. Everything else seems to do so, after all. Until such a glorious day, there will remain some questions about this long-running gabfest:
Does Hannity push for on-the-record material? Depending on the day, the mood or the weather, Hannity is either a “talk-show host” or a “journalist” of the opinion variety. Every time the Erik Wemple Blog has watched “Hannity,” the logo indicating “Fox News” has been present on the screen. News is commonly presented by journalists.
Does Hannity lobby the president to give him material that he can use on “Hannity,” solid, on-the-record stuff? We’ve asked Fox News for some details on this front. During the Barack Obama presidency, Hannity disclosed his thinking on public officials and trust. In May 2013, he attacked then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. amid the Justice Department’s scandal over its approach to media outlets and leak investigations. Holder’s people had declared Fox News reporter James Rosen as a possible co-conspirator in a violation of the Espionage Act, among other acts of overreach.
On his program, Hannity railed, “Today, Fox News, the Associated Press, CBS, the New York Times, and a number of others announced that they will not attend any meeting [with Holder] unless it is on the record. Now, here’s why: Because this man has proven time and again, he cannot be trusted. He doesn’t even tell the truth when he’s testifying under oath, let alone when he’s talking behind closed doors.” Good thing Hannity’s current phone buddy is a more trustworthy soul than Holder.
How does Hannity compartmentalize his conversations? Real journalists in Hannity’s situation might just go mad from confusion. Consider the info-overload: According to reports, Hannity sometimes talks with Trump more than once a day. Presumably, they’re ramble-fests during which the president lambastes his enemies and exposes his globe-spanning ignorance, as he does with any interlocutor. So Hannity is getting an earful of that off-the-record feedback. At the same time, he has to monitor everything the president says on the public record, such as the tweets, the stray comments at White House ceremonies, the addresses, the bilateral press conferences, the “Fox & Friends” interviews.
Just how does Hannity keep track of what Trump says to the American public and what Trump says to Hannity? There is a shortcut around this problem, of course. Hannity could simply internalize everything Trump tells him and present it as his own opinion. Watch any episode of “Hannity” and judge for yourself.
Does Hannity know that the president lies? As noted previously in this space, Hannity on two occasions this year has vociferously shouted down reporting by the New York Times — refutations that he based on his own sourcing. “I am told by my sources tonight that the New York Times is full of crap,” said the host after the newspaper reported a legal leak relating to the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. As it turned out, the New York Times was 100 percent on target.
It was Hannity’s “sources” who were off. What is the likelihood Hannity really had “sources,” as opposed to one particular source with whom he talks all the time? What is the likelihood this source is in a position to know everything that happens in the White House, while at the same time being perhaps the most unreliable source in the history of American government?
Does Hannity worry he’ll become the next Jeff Sessions, or the next Rex Tillerson, or the next Steve Bannon, or the next . . . ? It is well established that Hannity isn’t just a television star. He is a presidential adviser. We know it, the White House knows it, and even some viewers of “Hannity” know it. The host himself hasn’t exerted too much effort to rebut all the reporting on this front. There’s prestige in the setup, after all.
There’s also risk. Look at how Trump has turned on his own people. How many times has he tweeted insults in the direction of Sessions, his attorney general? That’s the guy he hired to run his Justice Department. And what about the treatment of Tillerson, the former secretary of state? That’s the guy he hired to run his State Department.
Now, Trump hasn’t hired Hannity to do anything. There’s very little, therefore, preventing the president from betraying Hannity. What if one of Hannity’s pieces of political advice backfires on the president? What if he drops in the polls after doing something Hannity had urged? What’s stopping him from getting on Twitter and blasting @seanhannity?
When that happens, we’ll know the end is near.
Read more:
Just how did Matt Lauer’s famous desk button work?
Fox News says its reporting in the Seth Rich conspiracy story wasn’t ‘extreme and outrageous’
Fox Business guest says torture ‘worked’ on John McCain
Erik Wemple, The Washington Post's media critic, focuses on the cable-news industry. Before joining The Post, he ran a short-lived and much publicized local online news operation, and for eight years served as editor of Washington City Paper.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
President Trump is in constant contact with Sean Hannity. How long until he turns on him?
By Erik Wemple
May 14 at 3:01 PM ET
Fox News commentator Sean Hannity at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2016. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
At some point, President Trump’s political aides are going to revolt out of jealousy. Try as they might, they’ll never get access to, and respect from, the president equal to Fox News’s Sean Hannity. Further proof of the cable-news host’s esteem at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue comes from another piece of reporting on the dynamics the Hannity-Trump phone relationship. From New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi:
Their chats begin casually, with
How are yous and
What’s going ons. On some days, they speak multiple times, with one calling the other to inform him of the latest developments. White House staff are aware that the calls happen, thanks to the president entering a room and announcing, “I just hung up with Hannity,” or referring to what Hannity said during their conversations, or even ringing Hannity up from his desk in their presence.
This story keeps growing. We knew Hannity played an activist role in the Trump campaign, advising, promoting, cheerleading — even paying for campaign-related air travel at one point. We saw that the relationship, including a shared attorney, continued into the Trump presidency. And we learned that, as The Post recently reported, White House advisers are fond of referring to Hannity as the “shadow” chief of staff.
Without recordings of the calls, it’s difficult to determine a curious dynamic: Who influences whom more? Does Hannity’s impact on federal policy exceed Trump’s impact on the content of “Hannity”? Or is it the other way around? Parsing lines of causation between Fox News and President Trump could occupy a platoon of researchers for the rest of Trump’s term. Weeks ago, CNN published a video of clips titled, “From Fox hosts’ lips to the president’s ears” — purportedly to show how the network moved the president. Philip Bump of The Post then proceeded to show that, in fact, it is Trump who’s driving Fox News’s talking points.
Perhaps some Hannity-Trump tapes will leak. Everything else seems to do so, after all. Until such a glorious day, there will remain some questions about this long-running gabfest:
Does Hannity push for on-the-record material? Depending on the day, the mood or the weather, Hannity is either a “talk-show host” or a “journalist” of the opinion variety. Every time the Erik Wemple Blog has watched “Hannity,” the logo indicating “Fox News” has been present on the screen. News is commonly presented by journalists.
Does Hannity lobby the president to give him material that he can use on “Hannity,” solid, on-the-record stuff? We’ve asked Fox News for some details on this front. During the Barack Obama presidency, Hannity disclosed his thinking on public officials and trust. In May 2013, he attacked then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. amid the Justice Department’s scandal over its approach to media outlets and leak investigations. Holder’s people had declared Fox News reporter James Rosen as a possible co-conspirator in a violation of the Espionage Act, among other acts of overreach.
On his program, Hannity railed, “Today, Fox News, the Associated Press, CBS, the New York Times, and a number of others announced that they will not attend any meeting [with Holder] unless it is on the record. Now, here’s why: Because this man has proven time and again, he cannot be trusted. He doesn’t even tell the truth when he’s testifying under oath, let alone when he’s talking behind closed doors.” Good thing Hannity’s current phone buddy is a more trustworthy soul than Holder.
How does Hannity compartmentalize his conversations? Real journalists in Hannity’s situation might just go mad from confusion. Consider the info-overload: According to reports, Hannity sometimes talks with Trump more than once a day. Presumably, they’re ramble-fests during which the president lambastes his enemies and exposes his globe-spanning ignorance, as he does with any interlocutor. So Hannity is getting an earful of that off-the-record feedback. At the same time, he has to monitor everything the president says on the public record, such as the tweets, the stray comments at White House ceremonies, the addresses, the bilateral press conferences, the “Fox & Friends” interviews.
Just how does Hannity keep track of what Trump says to the American public and what Trump says to Hannity? There is a shortcut around this problem, of course. Hannity could simply internalize everything Trump tells him and present it as his own opinion. Watch any episode of “Hannity” and judge for yourself.
Does Hannity know that the president lies? As noted previously in this space, Hannity on two occasions this year has vociferously shouted down reporting by the New York Times — refutations that he based on his own sourcing. “I am told by my sources tonight that the New York Times is full of crap,” said the host after the newspaper reported a legal leak relating to the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. As it turned out, the New York Times was 100 percent on target.
It was Hannity’s “sources” who were off. What is the likelihood Hannity really had “sources,” as opposed to one particular source with whom he talks all the time? What is the likelihood this source is in a position to know everything that happens in the White House, while at the same time being perhaps the most unreliable source in the history of American government?
Does Hannity worry he’ll become the next Jeff Sessions, or the next Rex Tillerson, or the next Steve Bannon, or the next . . . ? It is well established that Hannity isn’t just a television star. He is a presidential adviser. We know it, the White House knows it, and even some viewers of “Hannity” know it. The host himself hasn’t exerted too much effort to rebut all the reporting on this front. There’s prestige in the setup, after all.
There’s also risk. Look at how Trump has turned on his own people. How many times has he tweeted insults in the direction of Sessions, his attorney general? That’s the guy he hired to run his Justice Department. And what about the treatment of Tillerson, the former secretary of state? That’s the guy he hired to run his State Department.
Now, Trump hasn’t hired Hannity to do anything. There’s very little, therefore, preventing the president from betraying Hannity. What if one of Hannity’s pieces of political advice backfires on the president? What if he drops in the polls after doing something Hannity had urged? What’s stopping him from getting on Twitter and blasting @seanhannity?
When that happens, we’ll know the end is near.
Read more:
Just how did Matt Lauer’s famous desk button work?
Fox News says its reporting in the Seth Rich conspiracy story wasn’t ‘extreme and outrageous’
Fox Business guest says torture ‘worked’ on John McCain
Erik Wemple, The Washington Post's media critic, focuses on the cable-news industry. Before joining The Post, he ran a short-lived and much publicized local online news operation, and for eight years served as editor of Washington City Paper.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
