Fox News: ‘Foolish’ to think Hannity won’t return

Fox News is standing by host Sean Hannity Thursday, calling it “foolish” to suggest its most well-known anchor will not return from a planned break.

“Like the rest of the country, Sean Hannity is taking a vacation for Memorial Day weekend and will be back on Tuesday,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. “Those who suggest otherwise are going to look foolish.”

The statement comes as Hannity faces intense scrutiny and lost advertisers over promoting a discredited conspiracy theory linking, without evidence, the killing of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich to the WikiLeaks release of hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

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Fox News retracted the story Tuesday, saying “the article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting.”

The talk show host lost four advertisers Wednesday, including Cars.com.

While Hannity said Tuesday he would stop discussing the story about Rich “for now,” he said he would not “stop trying to find the truth.” 

“That effort is not stopping in any way, shape, matter and form,” he said. “I am continuing the work I promised to do for you. And at the proper time, we shall continue and talk a lot more.” 

Fox News came to the defense of its former anchor Megyn Kelly in 2015 after news of her taking a 10-day vacation after the first GOP presidential debate fueled speculation she was taking time off to avoid the fallout from a confrontation with then-candidate Donald Trump.

Hannity, who has said he would think about a potential run for office someday, addressed the speculation on Twitter Wednesday, saying he takes Memorial Day weekend off annually. 

Uh oh My ANNUAL Memorial Day long weekend starts NOW. Destroy Trump/Conservative media breathless coverage starts! Did Hannity do last show?

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) May 25, 2017