Sean Hannity Holds a 24-Minute Lovefest With … Sean Penn?
This is not a belated April Fool’s gag: Sean Hannity and Sean Penn had a 24-minute conversation Tuesday night on Fox News and agreed on just about everything.
Yes, that Sean Hannity — the very same Hannity who regularly and admiringly interviews former President Donald Trump and his allies. And that Sean Penn — the one who has cozied up to the likes of El Chapo and Hugo Chavez over the years.
Hannity acknowledged the awkward dynamic right out of the box.
“If you were on this set, 99 out of 100 times, we probably would be in full disagreement, right?” Hannity asked.
“No question about that,” Penn replied.
But this, evidently, was the one-hundredth time, and the two men found a great deal of common ground on Ukraine. Hannity explained that he’d reached out to Penn because he was interested in the documentary which the actor has been filming in Ukraine. The Fox News host recounted the pair’s awkward first exchange.
Hannity: Do you remember what you first said to me?
Penn: I do.
Hannity: What did you say?
Penn: I said that I don’t trust you.
Hannity: Is there a reason you didn’t trust me?
Penn: Yes, there’s a lot of reasons I don’t trust you.
But then, Penn sounded a note of harmony.
“When you step into a country of such incredible unity, you realize what we have all been missing,” Penn said. “And I don’t think that I have got time to indulge my lack of trust, which it becomes a petty thing, as people and babies are being vaporized, and that these people are fighting for the very dreams that are the aspiration of all of us Americans.”
And thus began a very unlikely 24-minute lovefest between the Seans. The two discussed various aspects of Russia’s invasion, as Penn talked about meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just one day before.
“In him, I saw something that I have never seen before in my lifetime,” Penn said of Zelensky. “That — like I said — having seen him, yes, prepared for it, yes, hoping against hope it would not happen, but a man who had not yet been challenged with, it’s happening.
“And the next day, I saw something that is a man, but it’s a man with the adrenalized — he’s the face of something that you see in all the Ukrainians we saw and talked to, whether they were in uniform, out of uniform, schoolteachers, even children, this extraordinary courage that’s come up. And it was in his eyes.”
Hannity and Penn went on to agree that the U.S. and the west should step up their efforts to aid the Ukrainians, and provide them with the military equipment they need to win.
Hannity: And I would give them the MiGs.
Penn: Yes.
Hannity: So, we’re in agreement.
Penn: We absolutely agree on that.
Hannity: And fight the war to win it.
Penn: That’s right.
Hannity: And that means defeat Russia.
Penn: Or let them fight it to win it, because they will.
Hannity: Well, that’s what I’m saying … Let the Ukrainians fight themselves.
The Fox News host wrapped up the conversation by noting that Penn grew very emotional, as he was speaking. Hannity told the actor he shared his sentiments.
“As a conservative — forget our political differences — I don’t want to see one more dead kid in a street, one more innocent woman or man dead,” Hannity said. “I don’t want to see any more images in my lifetime of mass graves like we’re seeing.”
The host then shared what he referred to as the Hannity Doctrine.
“If you invade a sovereign country, you forfeit your right to lead a country and you forfeit your right to live, meaning Vladimir Putin has forfeited his right to live.”
“I don’t want to invest in a conversation, not that I don’t have it privately, about my feelings about what should — what direct action should happen to a leader who does that,” Penn said. “But if there is a God, there will be vengeance beyond all possible comprehension.”
Hannity thanked Penn, wished him well, and noted the convivial tenor of their interview.
“Next time, we will battle over Hugo Chavez or something fun,” Hannity said.
“That’s an interesting conversation,” Penn said.
Watch above, via Fox News.
