Fox News host Sean Hannity called out independent presidential candidate Cornel West Friday after West claimed that former Harvard president Claudine Gay was forced out due to racism.
West claimed that Gay’s resignation was forced by supporters of “the ethnic cleansing and genocidal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza” in a Tuesday post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Gay resigned Tuesday after coming under fire over multiple allegations of plagiarism and fallout from her Dec. 5 testimony about antisemitism at the Ivy League school.
“My friend, former friend, I don’t know if we are friends anymore, Dr. Cornel West,” Hannity said while introducing the former Harvard professor. “He always calls me brother Hannity. I know you teach divinity, but Dr. West, really? This is really beneath you, if you don’t mind me being very blunt, for you to go to the race card and say that Dr. Gay was pushed out because of racism. That is not why she was pushed out. You know the code of conduct as well as anybody at Harvard.”
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“You almost got tenure at Harvard,” Hannity continued. “You understand it well and you know that if similar comments about the elimination or genocide of any, quote, identity group, African-Americans, people in the LGBTQ+ plus community. If any of these comments that were made against the Jewish people were made against other groups, you would not be saying that is racism. She had a moment where she could have stood out and strongly condemned it and not supported it and not said well, it depends on the context. She would still be president today. Why did you sink to this low claiming racism?”
West denied that he “sank” to a low and admitted Gay’s response to the questioning by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York was “weak,” but claimed that other professors accused of plagiarism, like Doris Kearns Goodwin, were not treated as harshly.
“You think it has nothing to do with the race? Come on!” West said.
“You said it was racism that resulted in her being removed,” Hannity said. “Also, if you believe in rigorous academic standards, there are up to 50 allegations of plagiarizing. If a student of yours plagiarized something, I would imagine they would probably get an F. I would imagine they might even be brought up for disciplinary action, maybe even kicked out of school.”
West and Hannity then engaged in a shouting match over Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on multiple locations bordering the Gaza Strip carried out by Hamas.
“Hamas, the terrorist group that has sworn the destruction of Israel used that money, built their command centers under hospitals. They fired the missiles from schools and hospitals and used all the people in Gaza as human shields. They committed acts of terror. They started a war,” Hannity said.
Harold Hutchison on January 5, 2024
