Sean Hannity wasted little time following President Donald Trump’s address before pivoting to cover the ongoing conflict with Iran.
On July 16, Fox News cut into its regular programming to broadcast Trump, 80, live as he delivered his primetime address. Trump touched on election fraud concerns and voting security issues ahead of November’s midterms, before turning his attention to the ongoing war with Iran following the collapse of the memorandum of understanding.
Yet rather than giving the president’s speech the in-depth coverage he has provided in the past, Hannity, 64, swiftly shifted focus to deliver the latest updates on the conflict with the Middle Eastern nation. This followed Fox News viewers labeling Trump as an “incompetent commander” after the speech.
• Donald Trump labeled ‘incompetent commander’ by Fox News viewers after 7-word boast
• Fox News issues humiliating on-air clarification after Trump’s ‘false’ election claims
Following a brief recap of Trump’s address from White House correspondent Aishah Hasnie, Hannity quickly moved along, saying: “Anway, Aishah, thank you so much for that summary. Appreciate it!”
Hannity then glanced away from the camera, consulted his notes, and looked back into the lens, visibly shaking his head, reports the Express US.
“We have other breaking news and other developments tonight. This is a Fox News alert!” Hannity declared.
The chyron — the text scrolling across the bottom of the screen — read: “Another major night of airstrikes on Iran.”
Sean Hannity cut off his Fox News coverage of Trump’s address -Credit:Getty
Viewers were quick to notice that the network had devoted surprisingly little airtime to the president’s primetime address. One viewer observed on social media, “Fox spent little over 5 minutes on Trump’s speech and then shifted back to Iran.”
Prior to the broadcast, the U.S. had escalated its strikes against Iran, hitting targets further north following Trump’s fresh warnings regarding the Strait of Hormuz, the key corridor for oil exports.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks, striking multiple nations including Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait, in the early morning hours.
These recent exchanges occurred after the temporary ceasefire agreement failed to resolve the Iran conflict.
President Trump addressed the nation on primetime -Credit:Getty
Meanwhile, Tehran launched strikes on American allies throughout the Gulf and pledged the Strait of Hormuz would stay shut “until the U.S. ends its aggression.”
The U.S. Central Command confirmed the fresh strikes after the president reinstated a naval blockade.
On July 13, Trump posted on Truth Social, “The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran.
“We are reinstating the IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.
“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’ but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” he closed.