The biggest story to dominate the headlines over the last 24 hours has been in relation to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow releasing two pages of Donald Trump's 2005 tax returns. In response, the right-wing media reacted as expected, and is used controversial langue to describe the press' reporting of the president.
Fox News on Trump
With just an hour to go before the broadcast of her Tuesday night show, Rachel Maddow tweeted out that she had obtained a portion of Donald Trump's tax returns. In a follow-up tweet, she confirmed that the tax returns in her possession were the 1040 form from 2005.
Within minutes, Trump and the White House sent out a statement where they confirmed the information, which showed that the president paid nearly 25 percent in taxes, or around $36 million in the year in question. The reactions mostly ranged from disappointment from the political left, to laughter on the right as the "bombshell" didn't appear as breaking news as it was let on to be. However, some of the harshest critics of Maddow's report came from Fox News, which was evident on the network since the program aired. As reported by Mediaite on March 15, two different Fox hosts were not pleased.
"Tonight we have hit a new low in terms of privacy a we know it in our country," Fox News host Sean Hannity said.
Without even mentioning Rachel Maddow by name, Hannity referred to her as a "Trump-hating host" and a "leader of the alt-left." Hannity went on to label her decision to air the tax returns as "troublesome," by claiming the media wants to "create a false narrative that President Trump colluded with the Russians," which he described as a "fake news" story.
.@SeanHannity Says NBC Is Waging 'Corporate Jihad' Against Trump Following Maddow Report https://t.co/mRYRODucHM (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/krVskQ1OVa
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 15, 2017
Not stopping there, Sean Hannity then went on to attack Barack Obama, alleging that the former commander in cheif altered an executive order that allowed increased sharing of collected data.
Hannity went on to describe the recent criticism of Trump as an attack from the "deep state" which is taking part in a "corporate jihad being waged by NBC News." "NBC is not news," he added, while concluding, "It is deep state Obama propaganda television."
Double down
Sean Hannity's comments about a "deep state" and "jihad" against Donald Trump were repeated on Wednesday during a Fox Business interview with the president's former adviser Corey Lewandowski. Fox host Stuart Varney also labeled the recent media reports against the former host of "The Apprentice" as an "NBC jihad," which is allegedly being supported by government officials who are "committed to President Obama’s policies."