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NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 13: Traffic on Sixth Avenue passes by advertisements featuring Fox News personalities, including Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity, adorn the front of the News Corporation building, March 13, 2019 in New York City. On Wednesday the network's sales executives are hosting an event for advertisers to promote Fox News. Fox News personalities Tucker Carlson and Jeanine Pirro have come under criticism in recent weeks for controversial comments and multiple advertisers have pulled away from their shows.
Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham recently faced backlash after their texts to Mark Meadows during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot surfaced.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Fox News hosts knew about the siege but pretended that they had no idea who was behind it.
Critics expected the hosts to respond to the backlash shortly after their text messages were made public. However, Hannity and Ingraham both waited over 24 hours before releasing a statement.
Hannity and Ingraham stressed that their texts to Meadows were consistent with what they told viewers during their coverage of the Capitol riot.
While it is true that Hannity and Ingraham's defense is accurate to some extent, the real problem lies with the fact that they both tried to acquit Donald Trump.
The hosts made it seem that Trump's supporters weren't responsible for the siege by spreading conspiracy theories. Hannity also said during his program that he wanted to know who was responsible for the attacks even though he was aware that it was Trump and his supporters.
Geraldo Rivera urges Sean Hannity to tell the truth
Geraldo Rivera, who appeared in Hannity's show this week, begged the host to recall correctly the events that transpired on Jan. 6.
"I beg you, Sean, to remember the frame of mind you were in when you wrote that text on Jan. 6. And when Laura did. And when Brian [Kilmeade] did. And when Don Jr. did. Remember that concern you had. Remember the frustration you had at our beloved 45th president," he said via CNN.
Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham acquitted Donald Trump
The publication also pointed out how Hannity and Ingraham continued to acquit Trump of any wrongdoing by attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Liz Cheney instead.
Hannity slammed Cheney for reading the texts before calling her ongoing panel investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot a sham and a witch hunt. He also said that Cheney was doing everything she could to prevent Trump from running in the 2024 election.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Ingraham did not support the insurrection, but she also refused to call it as such. On Jan. 6, she told her viewers that the rioters couldn't possibly all be supporters of the ex-POTUS.
Mark Meadows communicated with Fox News hosts
According to Deadline, Meadows provided the House select committee with thousands of communications pertaining to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Trump's former chief of staff initially agreed to cooperate with the investigation. But when the committee refused to grant his request for executive privilege, he did an about-face.
Meadows' communication with Trump's eldest son, Donny, was also released earlier this week. The texts revealed that Donny urged Meadows to talk to Trump and ask him to stop the ongoing invasion. Donny told Meadows that Trump should release a statement and make an on-camera appearance in a follow-up text. This communication shows that Donny was also aware that Trump and his supporters were the ones that started the insurrection.
Related Article: Mary Trump Explains Why Donald Trump Jr. Texted Mark Meadows, Not Donald Trump To Stop the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot
