Hannity, Rove again mischaracterized Obama's Pakistan comments

Summary: On Hannity & Colmes, discussing issues that purportedly "have totally changed the narrative on Senator [Barack] Obama," Sean Hannity repeated a falsehood that he has promoted numerous times before, that Obama would advocate "possibly invading an ally, Pakistan."

On the May 21 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, discussing "issues that have totally changed the narrative on Senator [Barack] Obama," co-host Sean Hannity said to Fox News political analyst Karl Rove: "And also, I think, it's this issue of, you know, negotiating without preconditions with dictators in the world like Iran and Syria, and possibly invading an ally, Pakistan." Rove responded, "Yeah." However, contrary to Hannity's assertion, as Media Matters for America has noted repeatedly in rebutting Hannity's falsehoods on this issue, Obama did not say in the comments to which Hannity was apparently referring that he would "invad[e]" Pakistan. Rather, during an August 1, 2007, foreign policy speech, Obama stated: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and [Pakistani] President [Pervez] Musharraf won't act, we will."

As Media Matters documented, Hannity and Rove similarly mischaracterized Obama's Pakistan comments on the May 12 edition of Hannity & Colmes.

From the May 21 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

HANNITY: All right. I think there are five issues that have totally changed the narrative on Senator Obama, and we've talked a lot about them: Reverend Wright; the association, the friendship with Bill Ayers; his comments in San Francisco; his wife's comments about America being mean and not being proud of her country. And also, I think, it's this issue of, you know, negotiating without preconditions with dictators in the world --

ROVE: Right.

HANNITY: -- like Iran and Syria --

ROVE: Right.

HANNITY: -- and possibly invading an ally, Pakistan.

ROVE: Yeah.

HANNITY: How does he overcome those five difficulties?

ROVE: Well -- and I'd add a couple more to it. I think this sort of callous attitude that he had being dismissive of people wearing a flag lapel pin by saying that was not true patriotism, and then, as he begins to prepare for the general election, showing up frequently with a flag lapel pin on, is a problem for him.

So -- look, his problem is, is that he is increasingly seen as an elitist who is out of touch with the values of middle America, and dismissive of them.

—M.B.B.