Fox News contributors Dan Bongino and Ari Fleischer discussed the lack of civility coming from the left in today’s political discourse during a Monday night “Hannity” segment.
Fox News host Sean Hannity set up the panel by bringing up attacks against first lady Melania Trump for her choice of White House Christmas decorations, commenting that nothing like that would have happened to former first lady Michelle Obama, as well as MSNBC host Joy Reid’s weekend characterization of Trump supporters as a “racial and religious cult of personality.”
Finding the current atmosphere “distressing,” Fleischer said that while he tends to give his critics “the benefit of the doubt that they are good people with good motives,” the left does not.
“They should give the same respect to people who support the president and particularly his wife,” said the former Bush White House press secretary. “It is out-of-bounds to have these criticisms against her. Where all of the women’s magazines that used to have first ladies on the cover? They don’t grace the covers with Melania, do they?”
Later in the discussion, Bongino called Fleischer “one of the nicest guys” he’s met, but quipped that “he’s much nicer than me.” (RELATED: Dan Bongino And Tucker Get A Laugh Pointing Out The Irony Of Hillary’s Newfound ‘Warrior Against Corruption’ Identity)
“I just don’t see the left that way,” said the former Secret Service agent. “I appreciate that he tries to find the good in people, but maybe it is the skeptic in me, Sean. I have had that beaten out of me, after having run for office a couple of times myself, and watching what the left in the media does to people. I’m not saying that there aren’t good people out there on the left – there are. That would be ridiculous to say as much, but the percentage of good people left amongst the radical left is almost infinitesimally small. Who attacks Christmas? Like Christmas decorations? You realize what kind of lunatic you have to be to find something wrong with Christmas decorations? That is like finding something wrong with the Big Mac or something. What is wrong with these people?”
After a laugh about Bongino’s Big Mac comment, the discussion ended with Hannity disagreeing with Fleischer’s notion that the sides have “always kept it within the bounds” in the past, saying they were also “vicious to Bush.”