Geraldo Rivera Brags That Nixon Wouldn't Have Had To Resign If He Had Sean Hannity

"I believe that our prime responsibility now is to unshackle the 45th president of the United States," he added.

Citing Sean Hannity’s ardent defense of President Donald Trump, Geraldo Rivera on Thursday bragged that if the Fox News host were around during Richard Nixon’s time, the embattled former president wouldn’t have resigned.

“Nixon never would have been forced to resign if you existed in your current state back in 1972, ’73, ’74,” Rivera said during Hannity’s radio program when the two were discussing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. Rivera later called the probe a “toothless tiger.”

“I know, it’s too bad for — It’s too bad for Nixon, because nobody like you existed then,” Rivera added. “I say that because I believe that our prime responsibility now is to unshackle the 45th president of the United States.”

Listen to the full clip below, via Media Matters.

Hannity has long railed against the Russia investigation, echoing Trump by calling it a “witch hunt.” He has also devoted large amounts of airtime to promoting theories that undermine the FBI and the Justice Department, including the notion that text messages between two romantically involved FBI employees prove there’s a “deep state” attempt to undermine Trump.

“You can’t make this up in a spy novel,” Hannity said last month, calling the investigation “one giant incestuous circle of corruption.”

Hannity has also jumped on the bandwagon of Republicans urging Congress to release a secret memo written by House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). The document, which the FBI and Democrats have condemned as inaccurate and reckless, reportedly accuses the DOJ and the FBI of abusing spying law while investigating the Trump campaign. Hannity on Thursday denied reports that he had personally advised Trump about the memo, though.

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