Sean Hannity Appeared to Take Direction from Trump White House on Election Day, Texts Show
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Paul Zimmerman/Getty Sean Hannity
Fox News host Sean Hannity requested direction from Donald Trump's White House for his Election Day coverage in November 2020, text messages obtained by CNN suggest.
More than 2,300 messages from Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows' phone show that Hannity sought input from the top administration official on what to say to his audience as Americans headed to the polls in the presidential election, according to the CNN story published Monday.
In the afternoon of that November day, the conservative TV personality texted Meadows asking about turnout in North Carolina, CNN reports.
"NC gonna be ok?" Hannity wrote.
"Stress every vote matters. Get out and vote," Meadows responded. "On radio."
"Yes sir," Hannity replied, according to CNN. "On it. Any place in particular we need a push."
"Pennsylvania. NC AZ," Meadows wrote back. "Nevada."
"Got it," Hannity reportedly replied. "Everywhere."
On The Sean Hannity Show, which aired from 3 to 6 p.m. on iHeartRadio, Hannity echoed that message to his listeners.
Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows
"I am acting as though and knowing that every single, solitary vote matters," he said, according to The Washington Post, adding that he'd "been on the phone all day with people all over the country."
The Post's reporter Philip Bump counted 58 mentions of Pennsylvania, 32 mentions of Arizona and 32 mentions of North Carolina during Hannity's broadcast that day.
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"Every single vote in every one of these states that I have just mentioned absolutely, positively matters," Hannity said then, adding later: "If you're going to be voting, you know, please, if you're online, please don't say, oh, this is going to take too long. Your vote is necessary. Every vote matters."
A Fox News spokeswoman did not comment on the texts between Hannity and Meadows.
According to CNN, Meadows' messages include correspondence with other Fox News hosts as well as reporters from several news outlets, but he most frequently communicated with Hannity.
