Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) clashed with Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, calling the television host “the worst excuse for a journalist I have ever seen.”
Ellison, who appeared on Hannity’s program, was furious over a segment showing clips of Obama talking about the fallout from the looming sequester cuts while dramatic orchestral music played in the background.
Hannity, shortly before introducing Ellison, said the clips showed Obama was more concerned with “fear-mongering” than reaching a deal to avert the $85 billion in automatic cuts slated to take effect on Friday.
“I guess that’s what we can describe as staying on message, something the Democratic Party I would argue is very good at,” Hannity said to Ellison to open the interview.
“You’re pretty good at it, too,” Ellison shot back. “Quite frankly you are the worst excuse for a journalist I have ever seen.”
Hannity said he couldn’t hear Ellison and asked him to speak again.
“What you just displayed was not journalism, it was yellow journalism, it wasn’t anything close to try to tell the American people what’s really going on and I mean, it’s just shocking,” Ellison continued.
Hannity countered that he was merely sharing Obama’s own statements.
“For you to try to make the American people make you think it isn’t is deceptive on your part and is a breach of everything, every journalistic ethic I heard of was just violated by you,” Ellison responded. “And the president was truthful. The president was honest. What the president said was dead on accurate and for you to say the president is to blame here is ridiculous. I was there August, 2011 when the Republicans, your party, which you shamelessly ...“
“I am not a Republican,” Hannity interjected.
“You are nothing but a Republican,” Ellison concluded.
The segment continued with both Hannity and Ellison repeatedly interrupting each other. Hannity finally ended the interview, calling the Minnesota lawmaker a “total waste of time.”
“I’m moving on because our audience deserves better,” said Hannity.
