Donald Trump claimed Thursday that he’s implored Fox News host and longtime ally Sean Hannity to knock it off with the jokes about President Joe Biden’s age.
The comments came during a Fox News town hall in Iowa hosted by Hannity—where the first question was whether the former president had seen the video of Biden tripping and falling earlier in the day while on stage at the Air Force Academy graduation.
Trump, who had already told a crowd of Iowa voters that Biden has to “be careful about that,” simply called it “a bad fall.”
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Hannity then pointed out that Trump, 76, has bit his tongue—relatively speaking–when asked to comment on what he considers to be Biden’s mental and physical fitness challenges.
While Hannity said he himself will not hesitate to criticize Biden’s acuity, he asked, “Why are you reluctant to call that out?”
“Well, I don’t know if I’m supposed to say this,” Trump replied. “I actually called Sean and I asked Sean not to joke about it. Because he used to joke about it. And I said, ‘Honestly, I don’t think it looks good for you or for anybody for you to joke about it, because it’s a serious problem.’”
In the months after Biden’s inauguration, the Fox News host routinely parroted Trump’s nickname for Biden—“Sleepy Joe”—and even showed off a “sippy cup” for Biden with the presidential seal on it.
“I said I don’t think it’s good for anybody and it’s not appropriate,” Trump continued. “You can speak about it if you want, but I don’t think you should joke about it. And you really didn’t after that.”
Hannity claimed that he now realizes how “serious” the topic is.
