Sean Hannity has never been known for his progressive views. This is, after all, the man who in 2016 offered then-sitting President Barack Obama a one-way ticket to Africa. So it might seem odd that the Fox News host would come to the defense of former Olympian/reality TV star-turned trans activist/wannabe California governor Caitlyn Jenner. And while Hannity did indeed call Jimmy Kimmel an “ignorant a**hole” after the late-night host called Jenner out on some truly, well, ignorant comments she made about California’s homeless population while being interviewed on Fox News last week, Hannity’s anger may not have come from a serious dedication to LGBTQ+ rights.
Sounding a lot like his buddy Donald Trump, Hannity declared war on “far-left, low-rated late-night host Jimmy Kimmel” for “spewing more hatred and more rage” for asking whether it was “transphobic to call a trans person an ignorant a-hole?” during his Thursday night show last week.
Enjoy!! Reality! Shutting down the WOKE!! pic.twitter.com/BDuSGtJYbN
— Sergeant Major (@SergeanMajor33) May 11, 2021
While Hannity claimed Kimmel’s comments stemmed from he and Jenner talking about “the real problem of homelessness” in California during their interview, that’s not exactly how it went down. Unless you consider the equivalent of “Eww… homeless people! It’s gross when my rich friends and I see them everywhere!” to be a serious conversation about the struggle of America’s homeless population. Which is what Kimmel was calling Jenner, whose interview was conducted in her airplane hangar, out for.
Caitlyn Jenner to Hannity: “My friends are leaving California. My hangar, the guy right across, he was packing up his hangar and I said, where are you going? And he says, ‘I’m moving to Sedona, Arizona, I can’t take it anymore. I can’t walk down the streets and see the homeless’” pic.twitter.com/Z1WbBBQXq7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 6, 2021
Still, Hannity seemed more focused on re-engaging Kimmel in a public war of words—as they’ve been known to spar in the past. In a rather blatant attempt to elicit a response, Hannity pulled up some old clips from The Man Show, including one in which Kimmel appeared in blackface to portray Karl Malone (a clip Kimmel apologized for in 2020). He continued his taunting by asking Kimmel (who undoubtedly was not watching): “Don’t you have anything better to do? Maybe actually trying to be funny or boost your dismal ratings? Because we’re absolutely crushing you by like 70 percent in total viewers, Jimmy. So, uh, that’s this quarter. Jimmy, here’s my advice: Don’t talk about my show anymore.”
After repeatedly calling Kimmel “an ignorant a**hole,” Hannity ended his diatribe by warning Kimmel: “You talk about my show, I’ll hit you back 50 times harder. Ball’s in your court.”
So… this wasn’t really about Caitlyn Jenner at all, right?
(Via Mediate)