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sean hannity
The Mugshot Worth A Thousand Words?
A defiant photograph isn’t “news.” It’s a symbol, an image. Which is exactly what Donald Trump is.
Aug 25, 2023
I want to talk about symbols, images, and fascism.
Here is Trump’s mugshot from his arraignment yesterday in Georgia. It’s a look of defiance—which I’m sure he practiced repeatedly beforehand—intended for his supporters and his Republican base to feel defiant, too.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, this is Trump’s thousand-word response to Wednesday night’s Republican debate that he declined to attend.
He is as close to America has come to a fascist leader, who doesn’t want his followers to think or analyze. He wants them only to feel.
He timed his arraignment in Georgia for yesterday so that it—and this photo—would dominate Thursday’s and Friday’s news, rather than anything or anyone emerging from the debate.
But a defiant photograph isn’t “news.” It’s a symbol, an image. Which is exactly what Donald Trump is. He has no political platform, no specific policy agenda, no new ideas, and no plan for what he’ll do if he gets a second term.
He exists as a symbol for the anger, discontent, bigotry, and vindictiveness he has unleashed in America.
He is as close to America has come to a fascist leader, who doesn’t want his followers to think or analyze. He wants them only to feel.
Trump’s lackeys fell in line, expressing the defiance Trump projected in his mug shot.
On Newsmax, Sarah Palin called for civil war.
Fox’s Laura Ingraham told viewers that Trump’s arrest was proof that government officials are trying to “take them out.”
Fox’s Sean Hannity said the Department of Justice will target Republicans “until there’s nothing left of the party.”
All brainless bile.
Last Thursday, Trump complained that Fox News “purposely show the absolutely worst pictures of me, especially the big ‘orange’ one with my chin pulled way back. They think they are getting away with something, they’re not. Just like 2016 all over again… And then they want me to debate!”
Of course he’s angry. For the man who’s all symbol and image and without substance, a photo like the following conveys a brainless buffoon. It must drive him crazy.
But Trump is not a brainless buffoon. He’s a cunning marketer, a diabolic manipulator of the public, a sly producer of his own daily reality show. His lead in the GOP’s presidential sweepstakes has grown. He will almost certainly be the Republican candidate for president next year—even if he’s in jail.
How to debate a symbol? How to take on an image? How should Biden and the Democrats, and everyone who cares deeply about this country, respond to a demagogue who obsesses over what he projects rather than what he stands for? How to deal with a fascist who doesn’t want followers to think but only to feel rage?
Expose him for who he is.
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'I Did Not Believe It For One Second,' Hannity Says of Trump's Big Lie While Under Oath
One public policy expert called sworn depositions from Sean Hannity and other Fox personnel the "strongest evidence yet to emerge publicly that some Fox employees knew that what they were broadcasting was false."
Dec 22, 2022
Sean Hannity, the Fox News opinion host and erstwhile purveyor of Donald Trump's "Big Lie," did not believe the disgraced former president's 2020 election fraud claims "for one second," details from a sworn deposition revealed Wednesday.
Hannity, who was deposed as part of Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News, was asked under oath if he believed claims by conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell, amplified on his show, that the Colorado-based company was part of a plot to rig its voting machines to switch large numbers of votes from Trump to President Joe Biden.
"I did not believe it for one second," Hannity testified, Dominion attorney Stephen Shackelford Jr. said Wednesday in a Delaware Superior Court hearing, according to NPR.
\u201cFox News star Sean Hannity \u2013 one of Donald Trump's strongest allies on the air and one of his closest advisers off it \u2013 admitted under oath that he never believed the lie that Trump was cheated of victory in the 2020 election by a voting tech company https://t.co/F7lnjIya8E\u201d— Citizens for Ethics (@Citizens for Ethics) 1671736325
"And yet he pushed these lies anyway," tweeted Rantt Media co-founder Ahmed Baba. "Fox News hosts knowingly lie to their viewers and admit it. This should be a bigger scandal."
Hannity's admission echoed sworn testimony from other Fox News personnel, including opinion host Tucker Carlson and executive vice president Meade Cooper, who "confirmed under oath she never believed the lies about Dominion," Shackelford said.
"Tucker Carlson, he tried to squirm out of it at his deposition," the lawyer added before the judge cut him off.
\u201cHypocrisy, thy name is Sean Hannity. The Fox News host peddled rigged-election theories on his prime-time show, but privately, he believed the \u201cbig lie\u201d was just that.\u201d— HuffPost (@HuffPost) 1671738436
Public policy expert Maya Contreras called the depositions the "strongest evidence yet to emerge publicly that some Fox employees knew that what they were broadcasting was false."
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Trump Mulling Streaming Online Channel to Challenge Fox News: Report
"He plans to wreck Fox, no doubt about it," a source familiar with the president's plans told Axios.
Nov 11, 2020
President Donald Trump is considering launching a digital media company to challenge Fox News' supremacy among right-wing viewers, according to a report published at Axios on Thursday.
According to the report, Trump is fuming over Fox's coverage before and during the 2020 election--especially the way the network preempted other corporate media outlets in calling the close race in Arizona for President-elect Joe Biden.
\u201cPresident Trump has told friends he wants to start a digital media company to clobber Fox News.\n\n"He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it," said a source with detailed knowledge of Trump's intentions. https://t.co/4654GjS90r\u201d— Axios (@Axios) 1605182656
The president's vexation with Fox--whose opinion program hosts including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham have been among his staunchest media allies--was apparent even before the Arizona controversy during an Election Day appearance on "Fox & Friends," another Trump safe space.
"Fox has changed a lot," Trump said. Discussing the different results of the 2016 and 2020 elections, the president remarked: "Somebody said, what's the biggest difference between this and four years ago? And I say Fox."
"I'm not complaining, I'm just telling people," he added. "It's one of the biggest differences this season compared to last."
The president escalated his attacks on Fox on Thursday, tweeting about the network's "completely collapsed" daytime ratings and calling himself the "golden goose" that it has forgotten.
\u201c.@FoxNews daytime ratings have completely collapsed. Weekend daytime even WORSE. Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot the Golden Goose. The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews!\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1605197418
According to a Trump confidant who spoke to Axios on condition of anonymity, the president has been doing more than just complaining about Fox--he is said to be plotting his revenge against the once-favored network he feels spurned him.
"He plans to wreck Fox, no doubt about it," the source said. "He's going to spend a lot of time slamming Fox."
According to the source, rather than try to take on the biggest and most popular right-wing network on its own turf--cable television--Trump is considering online options, chiefly a subscription-based digital media channel with streaming online content that would be a direct competitor to Fox's $5.99 monthly Fox Nation offering.
Fox, while taking the Trump threat seriously, doesn't seem very afraid of it. While there is little doubt that any new Trump channel would steal ratings share from Fox, the network's chief executive said he welcomes the challenge.
"We love competition," Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said on a November 3 earnings call. "We have always thrived with competition... Fox News has been the number one network."
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