Fox News host Sean Hannity has been called out for pushing a myth concerning Trump’s hush-money trial that has been debunked, claiming that the 34-time convicted former president’s trial may have been rigged.
During the commentator’s show Friday night, Hannity brought up a “very bizarre, unusual” letter that Judge Juan Merchan sent to attorneys involved in the case about a May 29 social media post. The post was shared on the New York State Unified Court System Facebook page from someone who claimed to be a cousin of a juror.
The person behind the post labeled himself on the social media platform as a “professional shitposter,” and Merchan did not appear to give any credibility to the post.
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“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted. Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!” the post read.
But despite it being debunked earlier, Hannity still ran with it.
“This is, by far, a very alarming development,” Hannity said. “Was the fixing from the beginning? Is this cause for a mistrial?”
However, mistrials only happen when trials are still active.
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett joined Hannity on the campaign to push the validity of the post.
“It also suggests that, perhaps before deliberations even began, the jurors had already decided to convict,” Jarrett said. “Impartiality is the centerpiece of our constitutional right for a fair trial.”
Hannity added that he does not trust “Judge Merchan—AT ALL.”
Social media users were quick to dunk on Hannity for taking the post seriously.
“Watching Sean Hannity babble about the ‘cousin post’ hours after it was debunked is funny,” wrote a user on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. “MAGA got punked and they’re so big mad about it.”
“@seanhannity HEY MORON, IT WAS A HOAX,” another user wrote. “The shitposter who put that up there got you, and a few others too. maybe you have a department where u work who's [sic] job is to confirm facts?”
Lawyer George Conway, the ex-husband of Trump consultant Kellyanne Conway, also commented on the post, sarcastically labeling it “totally legit” with an eye-rolling emoji.
