Multiple left-wing organizations are part of a coordinated political hit meant to push the most popular pro-Trump TV host, Fox News’ Sean Hannity, off the airwaves by pressuring advertisers to boycott his show.
Media Matters, a well-funded left-wing activist group, has been after Hannity’s advertisers for months, as The Daily Caller has reported. They’re not alone.
The Democratic Coalition Against Trump, a resistance group whose leaders include Democratic operatives and politicians, launched FireHannity.org in June with an identical objective: pressuring Hannity’s advertisers to pull the plug on his show.
Leaders of a similar campaign called #GrabYourWallet have been organizing boycotts of companies that carry Trump products or otherwise work with Trump businesses. They expanded that effort, which has been going on for over a year, to include a boycott campaign of companies that advertise on Hannity’s shows.
The group’s website includes a fill-in-the-blank script, as well as phone numbers and emails for public relations departments, making it easier for Trump opponents to flood companies’ inboxes with boycott threats.
“Hi. I’m a customer of [Company Name]. Unfortunately I can no longer do business with your company because it advertises on Fox News and/or The Sean Hannity Show,” the sample script reads. “If your company were to make a statement indicating that is has no plans to purchase advertising on Fox News and/or The Sean Hannity Show in 2018, I would enthusiastically return as a customer. Please communicate my feedback to management.”
(Screenshot/GrabYourWallet.Org)
The Democratic Coalition Against Trump is carrying out an identical assault on Hannity’s advertisers. FireHannity.org includes a full list of “companies that advertise on Hannity’s Fox News and radio show with links to tweet at them, email and call.”
“Hit these companies where it hurts most – their profits,” the website states. “Let them know you will never be a customer as long as they continue to support Hannity!”
Screenshot/FireHannity.org
The website frames the boycott campaign as payback for Hannity calling for a boycott of liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. But that’s misleading. Hannity did briefly encourage a similar campaign against Maddow, but as a countermeasure to Media Matters’ boycott campaign against Hannity.
The left-wing activists have smeared Hannity to his advertisers.
hey @UNTUCKit! Your ads on @FoxNews and #Hannity link you with sex predator apologists and that’s a really lousy look for your brand. We’re looking for you to publicly commit to drop these ads through 2018. #GrabYourWallet
— Vicky Mattson (@vickymattson) November 13, 2017
Hi @Walmart,
Why are you advertising with Sean Hannity?
Did you know that he defended Roy Moore on his show?
Moore is accused of pedophilia.You might want to rethink your ad buys.#RoyMooreChildMolester#SaturdayMorning#AMJoy#GrabYourWallet https://t.co/iaaDjAfEjk
— Holly O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) November 11, 2017
Media Matters operatives accused the Fox News host of defending child sex abuse. Hannity has explicitly said that anyone guilty of what Moore is accused of doing has no place in politics, and he aggressively pressed Moore on the subject during a radio interview Friday. (RELATED: Hannity Interview Was ‘Catastrophic’ For Roy Moore [VIDEO])
The anti-Trump coalition’s website claims Hannity “consistently spews hateful and bigoted rhetoric, endorses regressive policies, and defends right-wing conspiracy theories and propaganda.”
The campaign to defund Hannity, much of which has played out on social media, has been effective.
Hi there! Hannity is blocked from our advertising list. If we can help with anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at social@eloquii.com.
— ELOQUII (@ELOQUII) November 10, 2017
Several advertisers caved to the activists’ demands within the last few days and pulled their ads from his show. Hannity’s supporters briefly led a counter-boycott against one of the departing sponsors, Keurig coffee, after the company announced on Twitter that it would be pulling its ads from “Hannity.” The Fox News host called off his supporters after the company apologized.
While Hannity’s supporters worked to counter one boycott — Keurig — the left-wing activists ramped up the pressure on other companies to follow suit with boycotts of their own. Two more sponsors, car company Volvo and hot dog company Hebrew National, announced on Monday that they would be pulling their ads from “Hannity.”
Hi Barbara – We removed Hannity from our advertising plans. We will be sure to provide your feedback with our team. Thank you.
— Hebrew National (@HebrewNational) November 13, 2017
Yet another left-wing activist group, Sleeping Giants, publicly weighed joining the war on Hannity.
Of course, we’re going to keep our ears to the ground on this & we reserve the right to change our minds, but it is already in the capable hands of @GoAngelo @AynRandPaulRyan & @shannoncoulter. We will support them as needed. Hope you guys get it. Feel free to send your thoughts.
— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) November 14, 2017
The group opted not to join the boycott, telling its supporters that the mission to take down Hannity “is already in the capable hands of” Media Matters president Angelo Carusone and the #GrabYourWallet organizers. (RELATED: Media Matters’ Angelo Carusone Wrote Racist, Anti-Semitic, Anti-‘Tranny’ Blog Posts)