It’s hard to think of anyone who has been more viciously attacked in the media by his superiors than Reince Priebus. But just when I was feeling sympathetic toward the just-ousted White House chief of staff, he went on Hannity and groveled.
Sean Hannity spent about half his show Friday night interviewing Priebus. Chances are, Hannity was badmouthing him to Donald Trump during their dinner Wednesday, the night before Priebus secretly resigned. But Friday night, after the resignation became public, Hannity made like he thought Priebus was a hero.
HANNITY: Reince Priebus can leave with his head held high tonight… He’s not responsible that [Republicans] broke their promises. He served the country with honor and distinction, as the president said, under very grueling and difficult circumstances.
Priebus, in turn, insisted to Hannity that he feels “generally good” about leaving.
PRIEBUS: Number one, it was an honor and a privilege to serve President Trump. I think he’s doing an amazing job. I think he needs to get more credit for the great work he’s doing and I don’t know why he hasn’t gotten more recognition around the country.
[…]
Look, he’s doing a great job but I’m feeling good about the fact that he’s making a change that makes him comfortable with moving forward.
I might be a little more willing to believe this baloney were it not for the fact that just one week ago, Hannity and Priebus were insisting what good friends Priebus and Anthony Scaramucci are.
Last Friday, after incoming White House Communications Director Scaramucci pushed Priebus’ pal Sean Spicer out of the White House, Hannity began an interview with Priebus by playing a clip of Scaramucci saying, he and Priebus are “a bit like brothers, where we rough each other up once in a while ... But he’s a dear friend.”
Then followed this exchange between Hannity and Priebus about Scaramucci that night:
HANNITY: You know what the funny thing is? The first thing I read was how you two don’t like each other.
PRIEBUS: Right.
HANNITY: And I knew—I know you and I know him and I knew it was a lie, and I’m like, this is so typical!
PRIEBUS: Well, not only that, but when I first came into the RNC, Anthony was one of our regional finance chairmen. Obviously, we’ve done a lot of things together. … I even almost worked for Anthony after the Romney loss... He was a close friend, but you know, I’d just started at the RNC.
Five nights later, Scaramucci told the New Yorker that Priebus is a “fucking paranoid schizophrenic” who had “cock-blocked” Scaramucci from being hired for six months. Those comments came right after a dinner Scaramucci had with Trump, Fox host Kimberly Guilfoyle and Hannity. Guilfoyle reportedly characterized Priebus as “a problem and a leaker, someone who was not serving [Trump's] agenda.” The New York Times reported that Trump “encouraged” Scaramucci’s “open war against Mr. Priebus.” Does anyone think Hannity took Priebus’ side?
But just as last week Priebus hailed Scaramucci as “doing great things” and called it “a good day for President Trump” for hiring him because “sometimes a fresh start’s a good thing,” Priebus now said that his replacement, General John Kelly, is “exactly the type of person the president needs.” Priebus added, “I think going in a different direction, hitting a reset button is a good thing.”
Priebus also suspiciously called Hannity a “a great friend” and Trump “a genuine, decent, incredibly hard-working president that deserves the credit that he has coming for the incredible accomplishments that he’s taken part of.”
I think we can assume that Priebus would not mind a new gig at Fox News.
Watch Part 1 of the audition above, from the July 28, 2017 Hannity.
Crossposted at News Hounds.
We watch Fox so you don't have to!
