Hannity Hosts A Nightly Rally For Republican Senate Nominees

Hannity proved Hayes' point on his own show over the next hour, when the Fox host ran back-to-back-to-back-to-back segments targeting four of those races. His segments all followed the same cookie-cutter formula.

The Fox host started by smearing the Democratic nominee, calling Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes “an extreme candidate,” panning Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan for his “radical views,” describing Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman as “probably the most extreme candidate the Democrats are running this election season,” and highlighting the “radical positions” of former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley. On-screen text detailed the Democrats’ “extremism” as Hannity monologued.

Then Hannity brought on the Republican nominee for a cozy interview, and the pair traded taking points. Hannity highlighted how “critical” or “all-important” each race was to the GOP’s chances of taking control of the Senate, and asked whether the opposition research they were reciting was making its way to the voters.

In each case, the progression is "Sean Hannity exposes the 'extremism' of the Democrat, followed by the GOP nominee coming on for a softball talking points recitation spot. pic.twitter.com/J93unlXax1

— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) October 6, 2022

All four Republican nominees used the opportunity to plead for support from Hannity’s viewers.

“I need help from your viewers, RonJohnsonforSenate.com so we can get the truth out about Mandela Barnes so he does not serve in the U.S. Senate,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Hannity.

“We need everything that we can get from your viewers, from everybody else, to help us tell the truth about Tim Ryan, because we tell the truth about Tim Ryan, we're going to win this race and win big,” Ohio GOP Senate nominee J.D. Vance offered. “So, I'd encourage everybody, go to JDVance.com, send whatever you can because this guy is trying to lie his way into the U.S. Senate and if he succeeds, he's going to be a rubber stamp for Joe Biden.”

“We're not going to let that happen. So please again, come to DrOz.com. Support our movement. We're going to win this race,” urged Oz.

“I just want to plead, Sean, with you. I want to plead with your supporters out there, with your viewers. Go to TedBudd.com because without them, we can't win this,” said Rep. Ted Budd, the GOP nominee for Senate in North Carolina.

Hannity’s fidelity to the GOP Senate nominees is part of a pattern in which Fox’s prime-time block has devoted significantly more attention to those races than the same hours on CNN and MSNBC.