COMMENTARY
‘Bring It On’: Hannity Dares Hillary Clinton to Sue for Defamation After She Warns Fox on ‘Actual Malice’

Fox News has been obsessed with Hillary Clinton this week after Bill Barr’s secretly-installed special counsel John Durham filed papers in court the right-wing media has twisted and turned into yet another fake – and thoroughly debunked – scandal.
In her speech at the New York Democratic Convention Thursday, the party’s 2016 presidential nominee and landslide popular vote winner, Hillary Clinton, alluded to that obsession – drawing a challenge from far-right “propagandist” Sean Hannity just hours later.
Overnight CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported on the verbal scuffle:
“Fox leads the charge with accusations against me, counting on their audience to fall for it again,” Clinton said. She then invoked some legal language. “As an aside,” Clinton said about Fox, “they’re getting awfully close to actual malice.” Clinton spox Nick Merrill wrote on Twitter that she had “called them and their bulls**t out by name.”
Citing Fox News’ “already-manic coverage” of Clinton, Darcy notes that the “right-wing talk channel, which has in recent days dishonestly twisted a court filing from special counsel John Durham to accuse Clinton of nefariously spying on Donald Trump, mentioned Clinton’s name nearly 200 times Thursday, according to a search of rush TV transcripts.”
Hannity responded to Clinton’s warning, as Darcy explains:
“Malice, really? It’s called news,” the right-wing propagandist claimed. “Hillary, we invite you to bring it on.” Of course, while it is extremely unlikely Clinton would take any such legal action against Fox, I would be curious to know what the network’s lawyers think of him daring her to sue for defamation.
For those who don’t watch Fox News nightly, watch this short clip of Hannity’s evolving claims about the Clinton scandal that isn’t:
Monday: Claims filing shows servers were infiltrated
Tuesday: The servers weren’t infiltrated but it’s still spying
Wednesday: The NYT says spying and infiltrate isn’t in the filing. We’re gonna play word games now?
Thursday: I’ll give the NYT credit pic.twitter.com/HDoalJyqgC— Acyn (@Acyn) February 18, 2022
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.
![]() |