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."
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.
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.
-
Will Trump’s $12 billion bailout solve the farm crisis?Today’s Big Question Agriculture sector says it wants trade, not aid
-
‘City leaders must recognize its residents as part of its lifeblood’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
10 upcoming albums to stream during the winter chillThe Week Recommends As the calendar turns to 2026, check out some new music from your favorite artists
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
