Fox News host and radio personality Sean Hannity is reportedly acting as an informal advisor to Donald Trump. According to the New York Times‘ Jim Rutenberg, “So involved is Mr. Hannity that three separate denizens of the hall of mirrors that is Trump World told me they believed Mr. Hannity was behaving as if he wanted a role in a possible Trump administration.”
Though Hannity denies that this the case, he does admit that he regularly furnishes Trump with advice and insights. “Do I talk to my friend who I’ve known for years and speak my mind? I can’t not speak my mind,” he told Rutenberg.
Hannity has been a vocal supporter of the Republican presidential nominee, and he hosted a “town hall meeting” television special on Fox News earlier this month to lob softball questions at Trump and help him clean up his narrative and explain away his gaffes. (At one point, Hannity even teed Trump up to lie about his positioning on the Iraq war.)
“I don’t say anything privately that I don’t say publicly,” Hannity told Rutenberg. “I’m not hiding the fact that I want Donald Trump to be the next President of the United States.” The Hannity host insisted that his public support for Trump makes him “more honest” than reporters who effectively hide their biases. And as he reminded The Times, he “never claimed to be a journalist.”
(Via New York Times & Washington Post)