Sean Hannity used Fox News prime time to join Donald Trump in smearing the Republican judge who dared stay his "Muslim ban." But Hannity gave it a McCarthy-esque patina of his own by suggesting that those who oppose the ban are enemies of America.
James Robart is the judge who dared to exercise the power, specifically granted by our founding fathers, to check Trump. He’s reportedly known as a mainstream Republican, not some wild-eyed radical.
But Twitterer-in-Chief Trump went on a series of 140-word attacks on Robart for issuing a temporary restraining order on Trump’s immigration order that created chaos and outrage.
Attacking the judge was not enough hate mongering for “great American” Hannity. So he launched an attack on the large section of America that is liberal at the same time. Of course, he did so by pretending to be a patriot. With his American flag lapel pin displaying prominently, Hannity began his McCarthyism. Transcript excerpts via FoxNews.com:
HANNITY: A fierce legal battle is brewing over President Donald Trump’s extreme vetting executive order as liberals and the left continue to be willing to gamble with the lives of you, the American people.
As if liberals and the left are not “the American people” too.
College drop-out Hannity went on to proclaim that the judge had ruled out of activism and not on the law. Then he accused the judge of “undermining our sovereignty,” partly because he once said, “Black lives matter.”
HANNITY: Now, Daniel Horowitz, our friend over at Conservative Review, he wrote an article entitled “Rogue judges undermining our sovereignty, and (ph) here’s how Congress can stop them.” Now, in it, Horowitz argues that the judiciary branch of our government, especially on the lower levels, has been utterly polluted by progressive judges who decide rulings that are based on personal or political opinions, not on the law, not on standing, not on the Constitution.
[…]
Now, for example, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where this legal battle is now playing out, is known by all to be the most liberal federal appeals court in the country. And if you look at the Seattle-based federal judge, James Robart, who put a temporary halt to the president’s extreme vetting executive order on Friday, well, he has a history of questionable rulings. And according to The Seattle Times, during a hearing last year on police reform, well, Judge Robart, he declared, quote, “Black lives matter.” Now of course, all lives matter.
Hannity took a detour to suggest, with dubious evidence, that Democrats recognize the importance of the ban and only oppose it now because of partisan politics. Or, as Hannity put it, “to score cheap political points.”
And speaking of scoring “cheap political points,” that’s exactly what Hannity went on to do as he pre-blamed Trump’s opponents for any terrorist attack in the future.
HANNITY: My message to the left tonight is very clear. You want to keep playing games, you go right ahead. But know this: If one American loses their life, is killed as a result of letting in dangerous, unvetted people into this country, you are to blame and you will have blood on your hands and you can explain that to the American people why you put politics ahead of their safety.
By the way, Reuters reported last week that three military officials told them that, “Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support, or adequate backup preparations.” A Navy SEAL, an American child and other civilians were killed in that strike. But don’t hold your breath waiting for Hannity to assign any blame to Trump over that. Heck, Hannity will probably never even utter a peep of criticism.
Watch Hannity’s McCarthyism above, from the February 6, 2017 Hannity show.
Crossposted at News Hounds.
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