Sean Hannity tore into the latest liberal media double standard on the Thursday edition of his Fox News Channel show as the liberal media has sought to play up Republican presidential candidate and Senator Rand Paul’s temper but remained silent on Hillary Clinton’s well-known anger issues of her own.
Using numerous examples and quotes from officials in the Bill Clinton administration, Hannity and Outnumbered co-host Andrea Tantaros blasted the media for excusing Clinton’s behavior despite allegations that she did indeed throw a lamp at her husband during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Following an introduction by Hannity and clip of Paul’s tense interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday’s Today, the conservative radio talk show host quipped:
Rand Paul crossed the line, and, oh, by the way, Rick Lazio handed Hillary Clinton a piece of paper during the debate. Now it’s that type of questioning by so-called journalists, it’s pretty typical, especially when they interview Republicans or conservatives. But guess what? When it comes to liberals, they tend to get a free pass.
Along with a quote from a 1999 book by author Gail Sheehy, Hannity also cited a quote from former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers concerning Clinton’s temper:
Mrs. Clinton got really angry. She attacked George...and anybody that stood up and tried to say this was a bad idea was, you know, smashed down, belittled very personally and I mean what I said. The President didn't really attack people personally, Mrs. Clinton sometimes did....not only would she humiliate you in front of your colleagues or whoever happened to be around, Hillary tended to kind of run a campaign against people behind their back and that was certainly my experience.
When Hannity asked Tantaros to respond, she brought up the fact that no reporter asked the former First Lady “if she would repeal her husband’s law on religious freedom” while, instead, ex-Clinton staffer and ABC News host George Stephanopoulos “asked the gotcha question about the freedom of religion act on a Sunday show” and “dominated the news cycle and tried to make it look like Republicans didn't like gays.”
Later, Hannity cued up a clip from a 1996 interview Clinton gave to ABC’s Barbara Walters on 20/20 where she denied striking her husband by wondering what the reaction would have been if a Republican did that: “If a Republican, for example, was accused of throwing a lamp, you know, we have a side of Hillary denying throwing objects at her husband, but a new book, in fact, suggests she did.”
After the video, the FNC host immediately jumped on the disconnect between Clinton’s statements and this new book:
That is contradicted in a new book. Let me go to George Stephanopoulos. He actually said that he was stunned and that Hillary said to him and yelled at him and belittled him, said you never believed in us, you never stood by us, we were alone in New Hampshire, and she jumped down my throat. George Stephanopoulos said that.
Tantaros reacted to the contradiction by bringing up a possible reason why “Hillary wants you to bring up the lamp throwing story”: “Why was she throwing the lamp? Because of a man, because a man cheated on her and so every woman should identify with Hillary Clinton throwing that lamp. There is a double standard and it is just the way that it is.”
The relevant portions of the transcript from FNC’s Hannity on April 9 can be found below.
FNC’s Hannity
April 9, 2015
10:24 p.m. Eastern
SEAN HANNITY: Rand Paul crossed the line, and, oh, by the way, Rick Lazio handed Hillary Clinton a piece of paper during the debate. Now it’s that type of questioning by so-called journalists, it’s pretty typical, especially when they interview Republicans or conservatives. But guess what? When it comes to liberals, they tend to get a free pass. For example, there are numerous examples that Hillary Clinton has a vicious temper. Is Savannah Guthrie going to touch it the next time she interviews Hillary Clinton? Maybe she could ask Hillary about how, in 1999, Gail Sheehy wrote in her book Hillary's Choices, quote: “She is angry. Not all of the time but most of the time.” Want another example? Here it is. Dee Dee Myers, a former Clinton spokesperson, back in 2000 during an interview on Frontline, she described a confrontation between Hillary and George Stephanopoulos and she wrote, quote: “Mrs. Clinton got really angry. She attacked George...and anybody that stood up and tried to say this was a bad idea was, you know, smashed down, belittled very personally and I mean what I said. The President didn't really attack people personally, Mrs. Clinton sometimes did....not only would she humiliate you in front of your colleagues or whoever happened to be around, Hillary tended to kind of run a campaign against people behind their back and that was certainly my experience.” Wow, one of many examples I have. Joining us with reaction, Democratic strategist Alexis MaGill Johnson and Outnumbered co-host, our friend Andrea Tantaros is with us. I have 15 examples of people that have been around the Clintons and say she has a vicious temper. Can you think of one time that’s she’s has been asked about her vicious temper?
OUTNUMBERED CO-HOST ANDREA TANTAROS: No. We know that she shushed protesters. I mean, Rand Paul is taking heat for shushing a CNBC reporter, but we know she shushed protesters in her office. Look, I think the real question, too, is why didn't any reporter ask Hillary Clinton if she would repeal her husband’s law on religious freedom. Has anyone asked her that question and that was last week's big news story when George Stephanopoulos, who asked the gotcha question about the freedom of religion act on a Sunday show, dominated the news cycle and tried to make it look like Republicans didn't like gays. It was also George Stephanopoulos during the presidential debates threw out the question on contraception which started the war on women debate and painted Republicans as hating women. So that is exactly what they do and there's a huge double standard.
(....)
HANNITY: Let’s go to some others. If a Republican, for example, was accused of throwing a lamp, you know, we have a side of Hillary denying throwing objects at her husband, but a new book, in fact, suggests she did. Let’s watch her deny it.
BARBARA WALTERS [on ABC’s 20/20, 01/12/96]: Did you ever throw a lamp at your husband?
HILLARY CLINTON [on ABC’s 20/20, 01/12/96]: No, I didn't.
WALTERS [on ABC’s 20/20, 01/12/96]: Did you ever throw a bible at your husband?
CLINTON [on ABC’s 20/20, 01/12/96]: No, I didn't.
WALTERS [on ABC’s 20/20, 01/12/96]: Do you have a terrible temper?
CLINTON [on ABC’s 20/20, 01/12/96]: No, but I do get angry about things. I’m not going to deny that. I do – there are things that I think are wrong or things that should be fixed and I am not at all shy about expressing my opinion. I try to be a direct person and – but I don't tell people what to do. I say here’s what I think.
HANNITY: That is contradicted in a new book. Let me go to George Stephanopoulos. He actually said that he was stunned and that Hillary said to him and yelled at him and belittled him, said you never believed in us, you never stood by us, we were alone in New Hampshire, and she jumped down my throat. George Stephanopoulos said that.
TANTAROS: The difference, though, is, Sean, I mean, look, I don't think anyone thinks she's a shrinking violet. The difference is, Hillary wants you to bring up the lamp throwing story. Why? Why was she throwing the lamp? Because of a man, because a man cheated on her and so every woman should identify with Hillary Clinton throwing that lamp. There is a double standard and it is just the way that it is.
