Republican senator and Sean Hannity clash over claims in new book
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) reportedly tears into Sean Hannity in his new book, accusing the Fox News host of creating divisiveness in American politics.
The Nebraska Republican devotes 20 pages of his new book, “Them: Why We Hate Each Other—and How to Heal,” to rip into Hannity for catering to a subset of the nation, according to the Daily Beast.
“Hannity tells a lot of angry, isolated people what they want to hear,” Sasse writes. “And he has the delivery down to an art form. We’d all be better off, as would our communities, if we understood the game he and his colleagues — on both sides of the spectrum — are playing.”
{mosads}He said shows like Hannity’s highly rated Fox News program are “polititainment” that do not inform the public, and that many stories on Hannity’s show fall into a basic formula: “Liberals are evil, you’re a victim, and you should be furious.”
Hannity responded to the excerpts of Sasse’s book.
“Unfortunately, I went to bat for Ben Sasse, who has proven to be the single biggest disappointment in politics today,” Hannity told The Hill through a spokesperson. “He totally conned me like he conned the people of Nebraska.”
Hannity previously supported Sasse, but now calls that support “one of the biggest mistakes of my career.” Last year, he described Sasse as “useless.”
Sasse has faced backlash from conservative media outlets over his criticism of President Trump. He has regularly criticized Trump on topics ranging from tariffs, Trump’s relationship with Russia and his attacks on Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Kavanaugh denied her allegation.
Sasse, who said last month that he frequently considers leaving the GOP, writes in his new book that conservative media outlets cater primarily to an audience that only accepts pro-Trump content.
–This report was updated on Oct. 17 at 7:35 a.m.
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