Jen Psaki rips Fox News hosts for their Jan. 6 hypocrisy after condemning in private

Jen Psaki Slams Fox News Hosts For Their Jan. 6 Hypocrisy

Jen Psaki had harsh words for the actions of Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

On Tuesday, the White House Press Secretary was asked for her reaction to the news that the Fox News hosts had all privately texted Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and pleaded for him to get the then-president to ask his supporters to stop rioting in the halls of Congress.

“It’s disappointing and, unfortunately, not surprising that some of the very same individuals who were willing to warn, condemn and express horror over what happened … in private were totally silent in public, or worse, spreading lies and conspiracy theories,” Psaki told reporters.

Hannity, Ingraham and Kilmeade may have called Meadows begging him to get Trump to call off the riots, but they took a different approach on their broadcasts, either downplaying the violence or falsely suggesting the rioters weren’t Trump supporters but members of Antifa and Black Lives Matter.

As of Tuesday afternoon, neither Hannity, Ingraham or Kilmeade has commented on their Jan. 6 text messages. Hannity did interview Meadows on Monday’s show, but didn’t mention the text messages.

A QAnon believer who arrived with weapons in Washington, D.C., just after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, and threatened to kill former President Donald Trump’s political opponents, was sentenced to 28 months behind bars on Tuesday. Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr., a 53-year-old from Hayesville, North Carolina, was arrested on Jan. 7 after he sent threats about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others to a relative from Georgia. The relative contacted Meredith’s mother, who reached out to the FBI.

Lawmakers are torn over whether they should be in session on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, with some feeling it’s too dangerous and others arguing it can’t look like the mob scared them away. In comments to HuffPost on Tuesday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) became the most prominent voice arguing that lawmakers should not be in session. “If I were in charge of the Senate, I would not have us in session on Jan. 6 because you never know when someone may decide to mark the anniversary,” Collins said, suggesting there may be heightened security concerns. “I just think that day is too freighted with anxiety and anger and it would just be better if we did not have any sort of ‘anniversary’ of that day,” she added.

*Please note that this newsletter will return to your inbox on January 4th, 2022.

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? — Subscribe here!

©2021 HuffPost

BuzzFeed, Inc 111 E 18th St, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10003

You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates
from HuffPost

Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe