Sean Hannity demands apology for Jerusalem Post article noting accusations of antisemitism
(JTA) — Fox News personality Sean Hannity demanded an apology and a retraction from the Jerusalem Post for reporting on accusations that his use of the word “Bolshevik” to describe Bernie Sanders had antisemitic connotations.
“I demand an immediate retraction & apology from the @Jerusalem_Post,” Hannity tweeted Friday evening. “Israel has no greater friend, ally and supporter in the U.S. than me. I have a record of unwavering and passionate support for the state of Israel for 33 years on radio and 25 years on TV.”
Hannity mentioned what he described as friendly relations with Israeli Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, and the late Shimon Peres, which he misspelled Perez.
The Jerusalem Post article did not accuse Hannity of antisemitism, but reported on social media pushback against a tweet Hannity posted on Friday saying “BOLSHEVIK BERNIE: Sanders Says Dems Just ‘Beginning to Create an Economy That Works For All’”. The Jerusalem Post traced the history of the use of the term “Bolshevism” as an anti-Semitic slander.
The Hannity tweet linked to an article on his website that did not itself mention Bolshevism, the totalitarian expression of Communism practiced in Russia throughout much of the 20th Century, but instead described the standard social democrat postures Sanders, who is Jewish, has advocated for decades.
Sanders, the Vermont senator, was the only serious rival to President Joe Biden during the 2020 primaries, challenging Biden from his left. Biden, after securing the nomination, brought Sanders in as an informal advisor, particularly on economic issues.
The Post did not apologize or retract the article but updated it with a statement from Hannity.
The Forward is free to read but not free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
