Sean Hannity has embarked on an abbreviated media tour to promote his new book Live Free or Die: America (and the World) on the Brink, which debuted this morning at No. 2 on Amazon, and climbed to No. 1 just hours later.
Hannity promoted his book on Mark Levin‘s Fox News Sunday prime-time show, Life, Liberty and Levin, over the weekend, The Ingraham Angle last night and Fox & Friends this morning.
Signed copies of Live Free or Die are being offered by the Trump reelection campaign as a fundraising incentive for $75 donations and more. According to LAT, the book’s publisher says the RNC purchased the books through retailers.
Cable news’ most-watched host also hopped on the phone with the Los Angeles Times’ Steve Battaglio last Wednesday to speak about the book, including why he feels a Joe Biden victory would “move the country wholesale into socialism and authoritarianism,” what he believes the president has done well, what he’d like to see the president do less of (hint: The word rhymes with “bitter”), a post-Roger Ailes Fox News, and what his show might look like during a potential Biden administration.
L.A. Times: The book presents a very clear ideological contrast between Republicans and Democrats in the presidential election. It represents the kind of campaign that some of Trump’s advisors want him to run, and which he’s reportedly resisted. Are you trying to send a message with this book?
Hannity: (Laughs) No. Even though I’m on the air four hours a day, I wanted to go in depth so people had a full understanding at what is at stake 97 days from now. [The book contains] a history of radicalism, what makes the country great, the Democrats’ 2020 agenda, and then it’s followed up purposely by Chapter 4, which is socialism and the history of its failure. You’re talking about the biggest choice election in our lifetime. … I never thought Joe Biden would go this far radical left. I’d argue it’s out of weakness that Joe Biden had to embrace Bolshevik Bernie’s [Sanders] economic agenda, and even plagiarize it—which he has a history of—and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s insane new green deal. He’s pledging trillions of dollars to this.
I want to talk about Fox News
I’m sorry, you’re breaking up on me. I’m kidding, go ahead.
You have an opinion show, but you use words on your program like “investigation.” You say you have reporters covering stories. Define for me how you see the difference between what you do and what Bret Baier does on Special Report.
I have no comments about any other show on Fox. I have my hour I’m responsible for, and that’s it. I’m too busy in my day to follow what everybody else is doing. I watch very little cable news, to be very blunt with you. … So I would argue Sean Hannity is a talk show host. And I can produce hours and hours and hours of radio and TV of just straight news reporting. I can produce thousands of hours of Sean Hannity doing investigative reporting. I have a responsibility to put on news, information, opinion that you’re not going to get anywhere else and investigative reporting. … I am basically a newspaper.
Has Fox News changed since its founding chief executive, Roger Ailes, left in 2016? [Ailes, who was ousted over sexual harassment allegations, died in 2017.]
I think [Fox News Media chief executive] Suzanne Scott is phenomenal in her job. The Murdochs have been nothing but supportive. I like to view myself as a good partner to whoever I’m in business with.
Do you ever hear anything from the president that makes you say, “Man, I wish he had not said that?”
Yeah, I’ve said it publicly a lot—I wish he’d tweet five to 10% less, or retweet never. But I would also add that this—there’s never been a president that has been made for a moment like him. You compare Biden-Obama’s record against Donald Trump’s record—I’ll take that bet every day. I don’t know what’s going to happen in 97 days, but I’ll tell you this, it would be probably the greatest moment in the history of watching the mob and the media, your friends that you interview a lot, have to choke on the words, “We can now project that Donald J. Trump has been reelected the 45th president of the United States.”
What does Hannity look like under a Joe Biden presidency?
I’ll do what I always do—I’ll advocate for the country I love. I will fight for the principles I believe in. I will do the work that the mob and the media will never do. That’s what I do.
Here’s Hannity this morning on Fox & Friends: