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Fox News personality Sean Hannity was widely criticized after he lauded the Republican Party for welcoming "more diversity" despite sitting in a room with only White members of the GOP.
Hannity traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Steve Scalise and New York Representative Elise Stefanik—who chairs the House Republican Conference—about the GOP's "America First" agenda.
At one point, speaking directly to Stefanik, Hannity said:
"You know, Congresswoman, I've known you a long time... one of the things I'd like to see, and I’m seeing, is more diversity in the Republican Party."
"To me, the Democratic Party is the party of coastal elites."
As the camera zoomed out, viewers could see Hannity was sitting in a room filled with only White people.
You can watch the moment in the video below.
\u201cHannity claims that a room full of white people is an example of "more diversity in the Republican Party"\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1673402903
The overwhelming majority of Republicans in the United States are White, according to data analyzing the GOP's racial and ethnic makeup. The GOP appeals particularly to White men without college degrees.
The Pew Research Center observed ahead of the 2020 general election that the nation's electorate "continues to be deeply divided by race and ethnicity, education, gender, age and religion" while the recent Census showed ethnic and racial minorities represent the only source of population growth.
Despite these demographic shifts, White Republicans still wield outsized power, a fact that has prompted political scientists to suggest the United States is currently under minority rule.
In fact, White men represent 30 percent of the population but 62 percent of officeholders between both of the major political parties, according to research by the Reflective Democracy Campaign.
Twitter users couldn't resist pointing out the irony and absurdity of Hannity's statement.
\u201c"You've got off-white, eggshell, pearl, translucent, I could go on and on..." - Hannity\u201d— Jason Novak (@Jason Novak) 1673538537
\u201cThere is a lot of diversity for him:\nIvory\nCream\nNavajo white\nAlabaster\nEggshell\nSeashell\nGhost white\nVanilla\nPlatinum\nand \nOrange White\u201d— P. W. A. (@P. W. A.) 1673522035
\u201cI see no diversity @seanhannity at all.\n\nThe room was full of (Pro-Trump only) White men and women.\n\n#GOPClownShow.\u201d— Jorge Bedolla (@Jorge Bedolla) 1673490158
\u201cThat\u2019s a whole loaf of white bread\u201d— Outspoken\u2122\ufe0f (@Outspoken\u2122\ufe0f) 1673427110
\u201cA white TV host surrounded by white Republicans calls the Republicans the party of "diversity."\u201d— Barbara Tokay (@Barbara Tokay) 1673441874
\u201cThe all-American melting pot of white.\u201d— Mark Aldrich @markaldrich@mastodon.world (@Mark Aldrich @markaldrich@mastodon.world) 1673456734
\u201c*camera pans to show room filled with old rich white people*\u201d— Dylan Brickley (@Dylan Brickley) 1673451524
\u201cHannity also dismisses the Dems as the part of \u2018coastal elites\u2019 while interviewing Stefanik (New York!) and McCarthy (California!)\n\nBeyond parody.\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1673489598
Hannity's obtuse lack of perception brings to mind a similarly absurd statement Newsmax host Greg Kelly made last year.
In April 2022, Kelly hailed conservative pundit Ben Shapiro–who is White–as one of the "heroes" of the Black conservative movement. He then defended including Shapiro among Black conservatives in an on-air graphic.
Kelly claimed Shapiro has done his part to discredit liberals who say there is systemic racism in the United States and Black conservatives "shunned" by liberal voters even as he echoed Shapiro's patently false and racist claim Blacks "are responsible for 50 percent of the murder" in the country.