For decades, Americans have exercised their right to voluntarily withdraw support from public personalities and entities for egregious actions.
More recently, Republican lawmakers and media outlets have come to describe this as "cancel culture," and they've made it a key pillar of the party's platform.
During his second impeachment trial in the Senate, former President Donald Trump's lawyers accused Congress of participating in "constitutional cancel culture." Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio insisted that cancel culture is the most urgent issue facing the nation today. When the estate of children's author Dr. Seuss independently decided to withdraw some of his racist works from public circulation, right wing media spent weeks claiming that liberals were "canceling" an icon of children's literature.
Interestingly enough, when it comes to support for the former President and his conspiracy theories, these same lawmakers find so-called cancel culture much less objectionable.
That hypocrisy was fully evident this week when Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to remove Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) from her leadership position as Republican Conference Chair. The reason? She voted to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection and remains steadfast in her accurate insistence that the 2020 election was not "stolen" by Democrats, as Trump has falsely claimed for months.
In a recent segment, far-right Fox News host Sean Hannity attempted to refute these instances of Republican hypocrisy by offering a somewhat shoddy distinction.
Watch below.
Hannity claims Liz Cheney wasn\u2019t canceled. He says she was fired.pic.twitter.com/whNpDZJSv8— Acyn (@Acyn) 1620868614
Hannity addressed remarks to Cheney during his nightly broadcast, saying:
"For the record, you are not 'canceled.' You were removed from leadership because you put your selfish agenda ahead of the party's agenda and the caucus fired you from your leadership position for your failure to lead the agenda."
The agenda Hannity describes is the mandatory subscription to the long-debunked conspiracy theory that Democrats engaged in widespread election fraud to deliver a false victory to President Joe Biden. It was this dangerous delusion that sparked a violent failed insurrection against the United States Capitol earlier this year.
Hannity's distinction may have been well received by Fox viewers, but it otherwise fell short.
Hannity can make anything sound believable, if you are really really incredibly stupid. Say, stupid enough to put gasoline in a plastic bag.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— kenneth bain (@kenneth bain) 1620909697
They have no shame.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— John Tonra (@John Tonra) 1620892665
Same thing idiothttps://twitter.com/acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— Pej (@Pej) 1620889380
Sean Hannity hates people who tell the truth.https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— LeapingLisa (@LeapingLisa) 1620882070
New definition of cancel culture just droppedhttps://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— Name cannot be blank (@Name cannot be blank) 1620878033
Translation: Telling the truth and trying to keep a wannabe dictator from retaining power is a selfish agenda that also goes against the Republican agenda, which is clearly the exact opposite. Got it. Is Hannity just saying the quiet part aloud now?https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— \ud83d\udcaf\ud835\udcdc\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcfd\ud835\udcec\ud835\udcf1\ud835\udcee\ud835\udcf5\ud835\udcf5 \ud835\udcd5\ud835\udcea\ud835\udcfe\ud835\udcfc\ud835\udcfd\ud83d\udcaf (@\ud83d\udcaf\ud835\udcdc\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcfd\ud835\udcec\ud835\udcf1\ud835\udcee\ud835\udcf5\ud835\udcf5 \ud835\udcd5\ud835\udcea\ud835\udcfe\ud835\udcfc\ud835\udcfd\ud83d\udcaf) 1620871980
Some noted a glaring double standard.
What an utterly ridiculous man. "This apple is not an apple. It's a cucumber! If the other side were holding it, though, then it would indeed be an apple."https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— The Good Heron (@The Good Heron) 1620913525
When we do it, it\u2019s not cancel culture. https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— Tara \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd85 (@Tara \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd85) 1620873892
Hannity: It\u2019s only \u201ccancelled\u201d if progressives and/or Democrats do it...https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1392650023834324993\u00a0\u2026— CravinVegan (@CravinVegan) 1620882420
Cheney has vowed to lead the inter-party opposition to Trump's election fantasies.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
