On Monday night, far-right Fox News host Sean Hannity breathlessly railed against New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, whose scoops on the administration of former President Donald Trump led to some of the most consequential headlines of his time in office.
Hannity called Haberman a "stalker" for continuing to report on Trump, and he soon brought in Trump's White House press secretary turned Fox News pundit, Kayleigh McCenany.
True to form, McEnany accused Haberman of bias and insisted that if someone were to hack the text messages of prominent journalists, they would find evidence of malice toward her former boss.
Watch below.
Kayleigh: I\u2019m pretty sure if you got access to the personal text messages of a NYT reporter or a WAPO reporter, you may find that actual malice...pic.twitter.com/m8I7vrThMV— Acyn (@Acyn) 1624324723
McEnany said:
"It was Justice Scalia who pointed out that it's so hard to win a defamation case against one of these publications because you have to prove actual malice. Well, I'm pretty sure if you got access to the personal text messages of a New York Times reporter or a Washington Post reporter, you may find that actual malice against you, a conservative, President Trump, James O'Keefe, or others."
Of course, the Trump administration did seek to uncover the communications of journalists in order to uncover their sources within the White House. Trump's White House seized the phone records of New York Times reporters, seized the emails and phone records of CNN correspondent Barbara Starr, and seized the phone records of Washington Post reporters—all in secret. This is, of course, in addition to secretly obtaining phone records from members of Congress.
While these efforts succeeded only in securing the phone records, not the contents of text messages or calls, social media users still skewered McEnany's rant.
Hmmmmm, you don't say, Kayleigh?https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1407145995658579979\u00a0\u2026— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1624325473
Wouldn't malice be the appropriate response towards someone who tried to overthrow our democracy?https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1407145995658579979\u00a0\u2026— J Hougen (@J Hougen) 1624367577
Pretty sure that their illegal searching and seizing of reporters info mustn\u2019t have found this, or they\u2019d have published it for sure. But, nice try, KKKayleigh.https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1407145995658579979\u00a0\u2026— Christina M (@Christina M) 1624330728
That\u2019s weird bc I\u2019m pretty sure if your hoopleheaded boss and his minions would have found anything at all, we would have known it a loooooong time ago and Kayleigh would be lying to us about how she/they found outhttps://twitter.com/acyn/status/1407145995658579979\u00a0\u2026— christina needs PPE \ud83c\udd98 and so do all her coworkers (@christina needs PPE \ud83c\udd98 and so do all her coworkers) 1624340024
Well...hmmm...don't most of us in America rightfully share very negative feelings about Trump?\n\nHe did ignore a global pandemic that has killed 605K+ Americans to date.\n\nHe lied daily.\n\nHe held superspreaders in a pandemic.\n\nHe cozied up to dictators.\n\nHe was impeached twice.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1407145995658579979\u00a0\u2026— Carrie Moley (@Carrie Moley) 1624332155
Her reasoning—as well as her definition for the legal standard of malice—fell short.
I\u2019m starting to think Harvard isn\u2019t all that it\u2019s cracked up to be.https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1407145995658579979\u00a0\u2026— Irishrygirl (@Irishrygirl) 1624326289
So leaking about crimes is worse than crimes and only done out of hatred for Trump. Got it replacement Kellyanne.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1407145995658579979\u00a0\u2026— (((Barabbas))) (@(((Barabbas)))) 1624330438
Didn't she go to law school? Malice is not the Burn Book honey.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1407145995658579979\u00a0\u2026— Andrea R MD (@Andrea R MD) 1624325397
Hannity, of course, had no objections.
Breanna Michele/TikTok
Brandy Denise Mitche/TikTok
Elisa Pacheco/TikTok
Sophie/TikTok
Megz/TikTok
Rae/TikTok
Juicyjazz415/TikTok
Teresita/TikTok
Icelaaa/TikTok
@elonmusk/X