Hannity Trashed Giving ‘Thug’ Putin a Presidential Summit Platform — Until Trump Did It

(Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant Photo/Sipa/Fox News screenshot)

Both a Republican and a Democratic president staged summits with Vladimir Putin a mere four years apart, but only one received the effusive praise of Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Hannity sat down with President Donald Trump Friday night to gush over the meeting earlier that afternoon, which left some critics arguing that no discernible progress had been made toward ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

That fact didn’t stop Hannity from calling it a “historic day” during the interview. “I think this transcends political ideology,” Hannity raved to Trump when praising him over the summit.

The contrast in Hannity’s opinion on a Trump-Putin summit held on U.S. soil compared to Biden’s 2021 summit with the Russian autocrat in Geneva was head-spinning, as John Passantino of the Status newsletter noted on Saturday.

“Let’s be clear: The so-called summit with Vladimir Putin did absolutely nothing to advance any American interests in any way. That’s a fact,” Hannity said of Biden’s summit. “Instead, Vladimir received a massive platform in exchange for zero concessions whatsoever and then Putin used that platform to take shot after shot after shot at our country, the United States of America.”

Hannity continued in his 2021 rant, “And what do we get in return for this grand gesture that will enrich Vladimir Putin and Russia? Nothing. We got nothing. Appeasement doesn’t work, has never worked, never will work.”

He called Putin a “killer” and a ‘thug” who shouldn’t be given a “platform” by the United States. But that was then.

On Friday, Hannity called it “historic” and something that could only happen with Trump as President. He and Trump talked about how much more valuable it is to speak in person at a summit than it is via intermediaries, the press or on the phone. All considerations that seemingly did not apply to Biden’s summit.