Donald Trump is so unstable that even Fox News host Sean Hannity has reportedly acknowledged that he’s “crazy” while other Fox employees say they feel like they are being “held hostage” in a cult.
CNN host Brian Stelter spoke to many Fox News employees to write a book on Hannity and his relationship with Trump, a relationship that is the very definition of unethical journalism.
In a piece for Vanity Fair, Stelter explained that Hannity basically acted as Trump’s shadow chief of staff for quite some time and gained quite a bit of power at the network due to his influence over the White House.
But how does Hannity really feel about Trump? As we all know, Fox employees are usually tight-lipped about what it’s like to work there. And they certainly risk being fired or demoted if they speak publicly.
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Ironically, while they often decry anonymous sources like Trump does, they had no problem acting as anonymous sources for Stelter.
“Hannity would tell you, off-off-off the record, that Trump is a batshit crazy person,” one of his associates said. Another friend concurred: “Hannity has said to me more than once, ‘he’s crazy,’” Stelter wrote.
“But Hannity’s commitment to GOP priorities and to his own business model meant he could never say any of this publicly,” the CNN host continued. “If one of his friends went on the record quoting Hannity questioning Trump’s mental fitness, that would be the end of the friendship.”
Other Fox employees spoke of being shunned by family members for spouting Trump’s propaganda and singing his praises on the air, which is one reason why they feel like they are “trapped” in a “cult.”
In the Trump age, left-wing blogs filled up with stories about families torn apart by a loved one’s Hannity addiction. I heard those stories from Fox staffers too: Some of their relatives resented what they did for a living. They made excuses, mumbling that they were simply giving the people what they wanted. “I feel like Fox is being held hostage by its audience,” a veteran staffer said. “The audience has been RADICALIZED,” a longtime commentator texted me, in all caps, as he scrolled through his Twitter feed after a live shot on the daytime show America’s Newsroom. The amount of vitriol shocked him. Any break from Trump was penalized.”
It’s so bad that one Fox anchor suspects that Trump has dirt on the network.
“What does Trump have on Fox?” another anchor asked, convinced there was a conspiracy at play,” Stelter noted.
Could Trump have dirt on Fox News? Possibly. After all, he sought dirt on Hillary Clinton in 2016 and is continuing to seek dirt on Joe Biden now. Who knows what he found to make sure Fox News hosts lick his boots every day.
Frankly, if Hannity really believes Trump is crazy, Trump must have some serious dirt on him. But that’s assuming these Fox employees aren’t just trying to make excuses for Hannity and themselves to escape the consequences once Trump can no longer protect them.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
