On the Friday, April 25, PoliticsNation on MSNBC, during a discussion of FNC host Sean Hannity's reaction to racist comments by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, MSNBC host Al Sharpton went after Hannity's decision to reiterate some of his complaints about the Obama administration on his Hannity show after condemning Bundy's racism.
Guest Joan Walsh of Salon magazine ended up comparing Hannity's anti-Obama complaints to criticisms of the Clinton administration in the 1990s which she asserted "culminated in Timothy McVeigh." [See video below.]
As the PoliticsNation host played a few clips from Thursday's Hannity show in which the FNC host recalled Obama administration scandals involving the IRS, Benghazi, and ObamaCare, Sharpton made the segment appear as if Hannity were just concerned with issues connected to the Obama administration as he omitted recollections of several examples from years ago of the government trying to use eminent domain in a questionable way to confiscate private property.
Turning to Walsh, Sharpton posed:
So let me get this right, Joan. Somehow a rogue rancher, all of a sudden, it's the fault of the IRS, Benghazi, the Affordable Health Care Act, I mean, this is absolutely way over the top, but it spells what this fight was really all about.
Walsh recounted anti-government criticism during the Clinton administration and tied in domestic terrorism as she mentioned Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Walsh:
Sean Hannity is purporting to make things better, Rev. But he titles the whole segment, "Government Gone Wild." Government only goes wild when we have Democrats basically. We've had a real sharp upturn in this kind of talk under President Obama, but it actually goes back to President Clinton. We saw this around, you know, it culimated in Timothy McVeigh who talked about sovereign states, you know.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Friday, April 25, PoliticsNation on MSNBC:
AL SHARPTON: One of Bundy's biggest supporters have been Sean Hannity. Now, he has strongly condemned Bundy's racist remarks, but he continued to claim this is a case of government overreach. Listen to this.
SEAN HANNITY, FNC, CLIP #1: This is government gone wild. It's not limited to Cliven Bundy.
HANNITY CLIP #2: We have seen it play out in a vindictive tax agency's efforts to target and silence and intimidate citizens-
HANNITY CLIP #3: We watched tragically our top diplomats and our commander-in-chief lied in the wake of a terrorist attack that took the lives of four brave Americans. We've also endured the universal nightmare that is ObamaCare.
SHARPTON: So let me get this right, Joan. Somehow a rogue rancher, all of a sudden, it's the fault of the IRS, Benghazi, the Affordable Health Care Act, I mean, this is absolutely way over the top, but it spells what this fight was really all about.
JOAN WALSH, SALON: Right, and it's only bad when he says racist things, and the racist things are inextricably linked to his philosophy, but still, you know, Sean Hannity is purporting to make things better, Rev. But he titles the whole segment, "Government Gone Wild."
Government only goes wild when we have Democrats basically. We've had a real sharp upturn in this kind of talk under President Obama, but it actually goes back to President Clinton. We saw this around, you know, it culimated in Timothy McVeigh who talked about sovereign states, you know. The states' rights rhetoric is exactly as E.J. (Dionne) says, neoconfederate. But the Republican Party mainstream figures -- Rand Paul is not a fringe figure. Rick Perry, you know, same kind of rhetoric. They're not running away from these controversies. They're running towards them.
