In recent weeks, Sean Hannity and Fox News have been promoting the debunked conspiracy theory that former Democratic National Committee member Seth Rich had been murdered for speaking to Wikileaks. As the pressure mounted on the network, Fox News retracted the story much to the chagrin of the long-time host.
Hannity on Fox News
It was just last July when 27-year-old Seth Rich was found dead after being shot in the head in Washington, D.C.
Authorities believe that he was the victim of a robbery, which had become prevalent in the Bloomingdale neighborhood. However, right-wing news outlets and conspiracy theorists have pushed the idea that Rich was murdered for possibly leaking information about Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, despite citing no credible evidence to back up the claims in question. Over the last month, Fox News host Sean Hannity has highlighted the story, pushing elements of the conspiracy theory on his TV show, radio program, as well as on his Twitter feed. In response, the Rich family wrote a letter to the network, bashing their coverage of the allegations.
In response, Fox News retracted the fake news story on Tuesday, but that didn't stop Hannity from speaking out. As reported by The Hill on May 23, Hannity is not pleased that Fox News decided to pull back from their reporting, as well as taking to Twitter to hint about his future on the channel.
During his Tuesday morning radio broadcast, Sean Hannity pushed back against Fox News for retracting the Seth Rich conspiracy theory, and was defiant in his defense. "I am not Fox.com or FoxNews.com," Sean Hannity said, before adding, "I retracted nothing."
"For those accusing me of pushing a conspiracy theory, you are the biggest phony hypocrites in the entire world," Hannity went on to say.
The controversial host didn't stop there, explaining that the Rich story was so "big" that it was causing the Russian scandal to be "hanging by a thread."
Twitter revolt
In follow-up comments, Sean Hannity took to Twitter to continue his defense, where he also teased an announcement about his future at Fox News. "IMPORTANT! Mediamatters is trying to silence me, get me fired, pressure my advertising on radio & TV. Liberal Fascism. I need your help!!" Hannity tweeted out. In a second message on the issue, Hannity added, "Huge announcement tonight about Seth Rich, Trump/Russian Collusion corrupt media, the liberal effort to silence me. And my future at Fox!"
Next up
While it's unknown what Sean Hannity will do in regards to his future with Fox News, it appears clear that he is not backing down from his promotion of a debunked conspiracy theory. As the pressure mounts on Donald Trump, some have accused Hannity of digging up radical fake news stories in an attempt to deflect the media away from the scandals in the White House.