Can there be any better example of the absolute untruthfulness of various mainstream media types than this wildly untrue attack on Sean Hannity by The View’s Sunny Hostin?
Here’s the headline from The Wrap:
'The View': Sunny Hostin Calls Hannity's Vaccination Endorsement 'Too Little, Too Late’
"It only took Sean Hannity over 600,000 deaths to get on board," Hostin says
The story reports the following:
"It only took Sean Hannity over 600,000 deaths to get on board and advise his many, many millions of viewers to finally get vaccinated. I think it's too little, too late," Hostin said on Tuesday's episode of "The View.”
Hello? Hello, Sunny? Is anybody home?
Let’s turn to the record on Sean Hannity and the vaccine. Here’s a short list of what he has said on the subject and when he said it.
September, 2020: “Multiple COVID vaccines in the final phase of testing… It will only be a matter of months before a vaccine is readily available… If doctors and scientists say it’s safe my personal inclination is to take it.”
April, 2021: “Let me be very clear. I am not at all anti-science. I love science. I’m not anti-vaccine at all. I’m thankful experts were able to develop one in record time.”
May 10, 2021: “I love science and I totally believe in vaccines! I’m as pro-vaccine and pro-science as anyone!”
May 17, 2021: “Yes I’m pro-science and I’m very pro-vaccine. I’m pro the science of vaccination. I’m not a doctor. And I refuse to play one on radio and TV no matter how many times people demand I tell people whose medical condition I know nothing about, who, of course, have the right to make up their own mind what to do. It’s not my job. My job is to give them information that hopefully will be useful to them. I’ve been urging everyone to take it seriously, to protect grandma and grandpa, Mom and Dad, especially if they are not vaccinated. Do your research. Ask your doctor or doctors who know your special, unique medical condition. And I believe in medical privacy. And then in conjunction with your doctors and medical professionals you know, love and trust, make the right decision to protect yourself, protect your loved ones and protect innocent people you may come in contact with.”
May 19, 2021: “I’ve said it time and time again. Can’t politicize science. Nor vaccines. Warp Speed, Donald Trump, it worked. We got three of them. We got therapeutics like Regeneron and others. (Regeneron produced a Covid-19 antibody cocktail.) And still - mixed messages. I am very pro-science, very pro-vaccine. We can’t have politics infecting important medical decisions, affecting our ability to get back to normal, and affecting our ability to learn everything we can about the virus, including its origins.”
July, 2021: “Alright, let’s stick to the science, Senator. I believe in science, I believe in the science of vaccinations. But I’m not a doctor. The pressure to tell people what to do. I’m telling people this: I want my audience to live. I don’t want anyone dying from this thing. It’s dangerous. Take it seriously. I want people, if you have a cell phone there is a wealth of information, more than you could ever read, available for you to read. Also, talk to your doctor, that know your personal medical history. Your current medical conditions. Consult other medical professional you trust. And then make the decision in consultation with your doctor. I think that’s responsible advice for everyone.”
As an everyday Hannity listener I have heard him say a variation on all of the above a lot. A LOT.
Yet there is Sunny Hostin - or is that Dr. Sunny Hostin?- trying to tell her audience that Hannity is only now on board for vaccinations when this is provably untrue. And oh yes, forget about consulting your doctor on whether you should take the vaccine, listen instead to Sunny. Miraculously she knows not only your medical record but that of all of her viewers. Amazing.
In short, Hostin is playing politics with vaccinations. She is, in fact, taking a page from then-Senator Kamala Harris in 2020.
Remember, as above, that Hannity was saying this on getting vaccinated in September of 2020: “If doctors and scientists say it’s safe my personal inclination is to take it.”
Contrast Hannity on vaccinations with Harris a mere one month later in October of 2020. Recall this headline from Fox News:
Vice presidential debate: Kamala Harris claims she won't take vaccine if Trump recommends
VP Pence slammed Harris for 'undermining public confidence' in a potential vaccine
Somehow, in some mysterious way, Hostin was, as far as I can tell, not upset about Harris saying she would refuse to be vaccinated if Trump were president. But it’s now okay to suggest that Hannity was opposed to the vaccine when, in fact, he clearly was expressing support for the vaccine while Harris was busy politicizing it by saying she would refuse to get vaccinated if Trump were president.
Look. I have no problem in saying I got my Moderna shots. No problem for me. The first time I was vaccinated for something that I can recall was, literally, when I was in kindergarten and my little classmates and I were all given a small paper cup with a syrupy liquid in it - the brand new vaccine for polio. And I’ve had my share of vaccines since then.
But there is nothing wrong with encouraging people to do their research on the vaccine and talk to their doctor. That is the very essence of common sense. Which Hannity has displayed repeatedly, for months.
To suggest Hannity has said otherwise and is some sort of anti-vaxxer, as Hostin has done, is just not truthful.
Shocking? Sadly not.
