Hannity's history lesson on race relations in America
Hannity's history lesson on race relations in America
In his Opening Monologue, Sean Hannity said Democrats want America to forget their decades-long history of being on the wrong side of racial-justice issues, as recently as within the last decade with their praise of the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd.
Hannity said Byrd and others were considered "mentors" to many Democrats including former Vice President Joe Biden, despite their history.
"Do we have further to go? Absolutely," Hannity said on the subject of equality. "By the way, what Biden and other Democrats want you to forget is many of those that they so admire and call their 'mentors,' well, they fought tooth and nail against these important reforms."
He pointed to Byrd, who in the 1940s had been a member and fierce supporter of the Ku Klux Klan.
A 2005 Washington Post profile of Byrd -- who died in 2010 at age 92 -- noted that he later tried to reconcile with his Klan past -- with observers highlighting his work on behalf of West Virginia and the institution of the Senate, and the senator's own words that year, in which he said that "intolerance had no place in America -- I apologized one thousand times ... I can't erase what happened."
Hannity said Byrd and former Alabama Gov. George Wallace, both of whom had been icons in the party -- with Wallace thrice seeking the presidency -- had a checkered past on race relations at best.
"For example, it was a Democrat -- George Wallace -- who stood in the doorway of that Birmingham school to physically block racial integration. It was a Democrat, 'Bull' Connor, who used fire hoses and police dogs to attack civil-rights protesters. It was over 100 Democratic lawmakers who voted against the 1964 civil-rights bill," Hannity said, noting that former Vice President Al Gore's father, then-Sen. Albert Gore Sr., D-Tenn., went so far as to support a lengthy filibuster of the Civil Rights Act.
"So did Robert 'KKK' Byrd, the former Klansman," Hannity said. "So did noted segregationist Sen. J. William Fulbright, all Democrats."
Hannity noted that former President Bill Clinton had called Fulbright, a fellow Arkansan, his mentor.
"Despite his past as a Klan leader, modern Democrats practically lined up to shower Robert Byrd with praise, they even made him the Senate majority leader. Hillary Clinton [called] Robert Byrd the heart and soul of the U.S. Senate. [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer calling Byrd one of the greatest men in history. [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi called Byrd an American patriot. Biden called Byrd the dean of the U.S. Senate, a close friend and a mentor."
Hannity continued, "Imagine if Donald Trump said this about a former Klansman?"
He then turned to Biden, the Democrats' presumptive 2020 presidential nominee, and spoke about the then-senator's opposition to busing and his 1977 concern that children could grow up in a "racial jungle," along with his work on criminal-justice legislation in the 1990s.
"Remember, in 2006, he told a crowd you have to have a slight Indian accent to work at a 7-Eleven or Dunkin' Donuts, and I'm not joking," Hannity said. In 2007, Biden called future President Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean."
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Hannity went on, "Imagine if Donald Trump had said any of these things or supported any of these people, that these modern Democrats supported? Guess what. History matters. Truth matters."
He continued, "Democrats have zero credibility -- no standing -- on this issue... the Democratic Party will not come to terms with truth."
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