Sean Hannity was labelled a “hypocritical sore loser” for taking a cheap shot at Katie Hobbs while morosely calling the Arizona governor’s race for her live on-air.
“Apparently they did have a drop in Arizona and Fox is projecting that Democratic Secretary of State, who should have recused herself, Katie Hobbs has been elected governor of Arizona,” the Fox News host announced toward the end of his 8pm show on Monday.
A clip of Mr Hannity’s unenthusiastic race call had racked up nearly one million views by Tuesday morning, 13 hours after being posted to Twitter by the @Acyn account.
Mr Hannity’s suggestion that Ms Hobbs, as secretary of state, should have withdrawn from having oversight of the Arizona elections brought comparisons to the Georgia governor’s race in 2018, when Republican Brian Kemp beat Stacey Abrams after refusing to recuse himself as secretary of state.
Radio host Michelangelo Signorile weighed in on Twitter, saying: “Did I forget them telling us Brian Kemp needed to recuse himself as Secretary of State in GA in first run for gov?”
“What a weak hypocritical sore loser,” another user wrote in reply.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, a frequent commentator on US politics, wrote: “Should have recused herself? Really Sean? Your desperation is rather …. desperate.”
“Sour grapes from Hannity,” another posted.
Ms Hobbs won the Arizona governor’s on Monday night after the Associated Press projected that the latest round of ballot releases have her an unassailable lead over Ms Lake in one of the most keenly watched races in the country.
The Democrat has a lead of 20,000 over her election-denying opponent, who has refused to concede and described the call as “BS” in a tweet.
