Fox News host Sean Hannity proved that he’s terrible at debating and even worse when it comes to economics.
University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee was Hannity’s guest, and the host immediately began attacking President Joe Biden’s energy policy, remarking:
“He inherited energy independence, and we were a net exporter of energy, and now he’s begging OPEC.”
Goolsbee corrected Hannity:
“He inherited an economic downturn bordering on catastrophe and in times like that, the price of oil tends to go way down, that’s for sure.”
Trying to recover, Hannity told his guest:
“We need to focus. Did he or did he not inherit — well, three vaccines and monoclonal antibodies — did he also inherit that we were a net exporter of energy, and did he cut energy production by 40 percent? The answer is yes.”
Yet again, Goolsbee rebutted Hannity’s fact-free claim:
“No, he did not cut energy production by 40 percent. Energy production fell because we were in an economic catastrophe — (a) catastrophic downturn.”
Hannity tried to pivot, but only told another lie:
“No, he fired Keystone XL pipeline workers.”
Goolsbee:
“The Keystone pipeline wasn’t built yet, Sean. That had no effect on energy production.”
Growing more desperate as Goolsbee repeatedly fact-checked him, Hannity declared:
“Then why is he begging OPEC? Donald Trump didn’t beg OPEC. Why is he begging OPEC?”
Calmly, Goolsbee explained:
“He’s not begging OPEC. He convinced OPEC, and OPEC is increasing their production.”
The Fox host then went to another fabrication:
“They keep rejecting him.”
A clearly amused Goolsbee shut Hannity down by telling him:
“They didn’t reject him. They said they’re increasing production. Why are you complaining about that, Sean? You’re all over the map here. You were saying you didn’t like to pay high gas prices. I told you gas prices went down and Biden convinced OPEC to increase production, and then you said, ‘Why is he asking them to increase production?'”
People like Hannity hate facts. And they’re so used to lying and spreading conspiracy theories that it makes you wonder if they really believe the bullshit they’re spreading.
