Fox News' Sean Hannity reportedly wrote a Trump campaign ad that aired on his show


Fox News host Sean Hannity is denying a new report that he wrote a 2020 campaign ad for former President Donald Trump — an ad that then aired on his show.
An upcoming book by Mike Bender, White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal, about the 2020 presidential election includes the detail that Hannity allegedly had a role in writing a campaign ad for Trump last year, which only aired on his Fox News show, according to an excerpt published Tuesday by Punchbowl News.
"Multiple internal campaign emails referred to the spot simply as 'Hannity,'" Bender reports, per Punchbowl News. "Another referred to it as the 'Hannity-written' spot. 'POTUS has not yet approved, but Hannity has,' read one email. 'Hannity said this is our best spot yet,' another campaign aide wrote."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The ad deemed then-candidate Joe Biden a "forty-seven-year swamp creature" who supported a "radical, socialist Green New Deal." Bender writes that it "was mocked mercilessly" inside the Trump campaign "mostly because of the dramatic, over-the-top language and a message that seemed to value quantity over quality." In fact, the campaign reportedly "deemed it so useless that they limited it to exactly one show," Hannity's, hoping he and Trump would stop asking about it. It reportedly cost the campaign $1.5 million.
Hannity denied the reporting, telling Bender he "was not involved that much" in the Trump campaign and that "anybody who said that is full of sh--." According to Punchbowl, though, Trump "did not dispute that Hannity wrote the ad" during an interview with Bender.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Five years on: How Covid changed everything
Feature We seem to have collectively forgotten Covid’s horrors, but they have completely reshaped politics
By The Week US Published
-
Trump’s TPS takedown
Feature The president plans to deport a million immigrants with protected status. What effects will that have?
By The Week US Published
-
Do I qualify for student loan forgiveness?
The Explainer There are a number of different pathways to qualification, though each requires strict criteria to be met
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Canada's Mark Carney calls snap election
speed read Voters will go to the polls on April 28 to pick a new government
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Musk set to earn billions from Trump administration
Speed Read Musk's company SpaceX will receive billions in federal government contracts in the coming years
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reports: Musk to get briefed on top secret China war plan
Speed Read In a major expansion of Elon Musk's government role, he will be briefed on military plans for potential war with China
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump signs order to end Education Department
Speed Read The move will return education 'back to the states where it belongs,' the president says
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pauses $175M for Penn over trans athlete
Speed Read The president is withholding federal funds from the University of Pennsylvania because it once allowed a transgender swimmer to compete
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump purports to 'void' Biden pardons
Speed Read Joe Biden's pardons of Jan. 6 committee members are not valid because they were done by autopen, says Trump
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
White House ignores judicial deportation blocks
Speed Read The Trump administration deports alleged Venezuelan gang members under a wartime law, defying a court order
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Schumer: Democrats will help pass spending bill
Speed Read The Democrats end the threat of government shutdown
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published