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hannity-rich-conspiracy_2.png

Fox News is ignoring Trump’s conspiracy theory about Joe Scarborough -- while Sean Hannity laughs about it on the radio

Written by John Whitehouse

Research contributions from Courtney Hagle

Published 05/26/20 3:30 PM EDT

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President Donald Trump has been spreading a debunked conspiracy theory that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, who is now a loud Trump critic, is a murderer. Unlike with previous pro-Trump conspiracy theories, Fox News isn’t covering this story on-air at all (even to debunk it) -- even as the network's most prominent host pushes the baseless attack on his radio show.

Trump has repeatedly tweeted about Lori Klausutis, a former intern of Scarborough’s who died after fainting at work at hitting her head on a desk. The president’s son Donald Trump Jr. has also spread the conspiracy theory on Twitter. Klausutis’ widower has written a letter to Twitter asking that the company remove the tweets from Trump and his son; in it, he specifically mentions young family members who will learn about Lori through this conspiracy theory, and he says Trump has taken his late wife’s memory “and perverted it for perceived political gain.” (In response to the letter, Twitter has declined to take any action.)

While social media platforms allow the conspiracy theory to spread, right-wing media are happily seizing on the claim to hit Scarborough, a prominent Trump critic. Sinclair contributor Sebastian Gorka, Mark Simone, Newsmax’s John Cardillo, Infowars, and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich have all pushed it recently. (As a counterpoint, here’s Washington Examiner columnists sayingvTrump has better things to do than push baseless conspiracy theories about Scarborough).

As my colleague Matt Gertz has noted, this conspiracy theory about Klausutis is akin to those about murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, which swamped right-wing media in 2017 -- and still appear to this day. Fox News was infamously a hub of Seth Rich conspiracy theories in 2017, with host Sean Hannity taking the lead. The network promised a review of its coverage but it has yet to be released, three years later.

Watching Fox News now, though, it’s clear what the network’s takeaway to the Rich situation has been: Don’t mention the conspiracy theory on air at all, even to report that the president of the United States is spreading it.

A review of Fox News transcripts in the SnapStream video database show that Joe Scarborough hasn’t been mentioned on the network since May 3, when host Howard Kurtz briefly mentioned a different Trump Twitter attack on the MSNBC host. The Trump tweets mentioned by Klausutis’ widower, Timothy J. Klausutis, postdate that mention.

In fact, the only mention of Scarborough since May 3 was when Fox News ran White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany's press conference on May 26 -- and she was pressed about why Trump was accusing Scarborough of murder. (McEnany deflected, stating absurdly that Scarborough was the one who had questions to answer.)

Meanwhile, Hannity -- who has never apologized for or even renounced his vile Seth Rich conspiracy theories -- is cheering on Trump.

Here’s how he talked about Trump’s conspiracy theories on his radio show on May 20, mocking Scarborough’s wife and co-host, Mika Brzezinski, for even bringing it up, before claiming that there are “irregularities” involved and loudly declaring his willingness to “go there” if not for the holiday weekend.

Sean Hannity and his producer discuss conspiracy theory about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough

May 20, 2020

Sean Hannity and his producer discuss conspiracy theory about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough
Audio file

Citation From the May 20, 2020, edition of Premiere Radio Network's The Sean Hannity Show

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): “You were mean to my little Joey and you need to stop!" It's awful. Do they ever listen to -- you know, what she's been trying to provoke me into this fight, Lynda, and [laughs] you know, I'm about to take a couple of days off. I've been working really hard. I'm a little tired. Everybody on my team knows I'm tired, you know?

LYNDA MCLAUGHLIN (PRODUCER): Oh, we know.

HANNITY: Do I really want to get involved with dealing with these lunatics? Because their ratings suck, they're total psychos, they lie every day. Every day they wake up and act like they're outraged, outraged over what Donald Trump did or said. If the guy cured cancer, it wouldn't be good enough.

Umm, I have a question for Mika. Hey, Mika, was it a good idea that Trump put the travel ban in effect? Umm, they don't like it when you dig into Joe's background, but they have no trouble digging into Trump's background every day. Maybe those questions should be asked! There seem to be irregularities as it relates to certain people involved in that case. I mean, should I go there, or should I take the weekend off?

MCLAUGHLIN: It's always such a good time to make fun of them, so I'm on board with making fun of them. I think they stink.

...

HANNITY: So she's trying to provoke me into a fight and I'm like, well, I can win this fight. I can go there, I can go there on steroids, I don't mind going there. I train, I fight, I love to fight, to be very blunt with you. I'm good at it, and I'm going to win! It's not a matter of winning, it's just a matter of how hard I'll hit them, because I can hit them both so hard, you know, their mothers will feel the vibrations, as --

MCLAUGHLIN: Figuratively, here. Figuratively.

Hannity also briefly discussed the matter earlier in the show with disgraced former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who quickly changed the subject.

Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly discuss conspiracy theory about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough

May 20, 2020

Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly discuss conspiracy theory about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough
Audio file

Citation From the May 20, 2020, edition of Premiere Radio Network's The Sean Hannity Show

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): So you got Mika and the ever-boring, pathetic, sell-out liberal Joe. And they're trying to entice me into this fight today. I'm kind of tired, we're heading into Memorial Day weekend.

BILL O'REILLY: Sure.

HANNITY: And, Bill, I can pulverize them.

...

HANNITY: You know, I didn't even read it all, but somebody sent me a text of a tweet that Mika -- Mika's all upset because Donald Trump brought up a conspiracy theory, talking about an incident that happened when Joe was a congressman, that did have questions with the coroner, etc., etc., and people --

O'REILLY: Oh, I got it. OK.

HANNITY: So, I have a choice. I could go full-on Hannity and start pounding the living crap out of them, and I like to fight, and I'm going to win. Or just ignore it. What would you do?

O'REILLY: In this case, I would ignore it.

Fox News’ website, meanwhile, covered Trump’s accusations when the president made them in 2017, but searches for anything in recent days turn up only a brief reference in a May 13 column by Kurtz.

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In This Article

  • Sean Hannity

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  • Fox News

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  • Seth Rich Conspiracy Theory

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  • Donald Trump

    Donald-Trump-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Joe Scarborough

    joescarborough_mmfa_tag
  • Pizzagate Conspiracy Theory

    Pizzagate-Conspiracy-Theory-MMFA-Tag.png
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