Fox News anchor Sean Hannity said he is a talk show host — not a journalist — following the investigations into his text exchanges with Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to Trump.
Hannity defended his role as a host on his Friday night broadcast, saying he is not a journalist and therefore has been upfront about his political ties. These remarks come as CNN last week reported on Hannity’s exchanges with Meadows following the 2020 presidential election.
The text messages reveal that Hannity acted similar to a GOP operative, following Meadows’ orders about Election Day initiatives to broadcast on his radio show and having his team “digging into the numbers” that show voter fraud. In the texts, there was also discussion of doing a campaign ad for Trump’s re-election bid.
On Friday’s show, Hannity went on to say he needs to explain his job, because people don’t understand that he is a member of the press, but that he does not consider himself a journalist.
“I go out of my way to explain what my job is, because a lot of people in the media mob do not understand what we do,” Hannity said. “Yes, I’m a member of the press. … I’m on the Fox News Channel — which is a news channel — but I don’t claim to be a journalist. I claim to be a talk show host.”
Hannity added that he “can” cover hard news and investigative reports, but he is “upfront” about who he is as a “registered conservative” that voted for Donald Trump.
“I make no apologies. I give my opinions straightforward. We even do culture, we do sports — I’m like the whole newspaper,” Hannity said.
You can watch the entire exchange in the clip at the top.
