Fox News host Sean Hannity delivered a public apology to Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) during a Tuesday episode of the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast.
The apology came as Hannity revealed what he called the “untold story” of the pair’s first face-to-face meeting, which took place at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Hannity had previously offered a private apology to Fetterman during their encounter at Mar-a-Lago before making the admission public on the podcast.
Hannity described meeting Fetterman while the senator was visiting Trump for a private dinner at the Florida estate.
“The untold story is, I walked up to you, and I said, ‘Senator, very nice to meet you.’ I said, ‘You should hate me, I’m an a**hole,’ and I don’t know if you remember that part,” Hannity told Fetterman during the episode.
Hannity continued: “I said it because, by that time, I’d begun to realize I had you all wrong. Everything I believed, thought about you — and I really believed it — was wrong.”
Back in 2022, Hannity had blasted Fetterman as “very lazy” and a “lying loser” over fundraising texts he alleged contained falsehoods about him, as well as an interview Hannity conducted with Fetterman’s then-opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman accepted the apology during the podcast exchange.
“That that’s a truth about today now,” Fetterman responded to Hannity’s admission.
The senator elaborated on his willingness to engage across partisan lines: “And when you actually have a chance to sit down and have conversations — that’s why I’m always committed to doing that — and sit down, and … I don’t have grudges, or I just have these conversations.”
Fetterman has drawn sharp criticism from left-wing Democrats for opposing efforts to block funding bills, supporting Operation Epic Fury, defending the Trump administration’s strikes against suspected drug smugglers, and backing Israel.
During the wide-ranging conversation, Fetterman also discussed partisanship, the 2022 Senate race, and what he described as putting country over party.
“Whenever there’s an opportunity, I’m always going to pick what’s the right thing for the country,” Fetterman said.
Fetterman won his Senate seat in November 2022, defeating Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz for the seat vacated by retiring Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey.
Fetterman later recounted meeting Oz — now administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — at a book signing hosted by Fox News anchor Bret Baier, and added that he would trust the former daytime TV talk show host and heart surgeon to perform surgery on him.
Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022, during his Senate campaign.
His campaign faced accusations of misleading voters about his medical condition in a letter released during the final weeks of that race.
Fetterman was later admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in February 2023 to undergo inpatient treatment for depression.
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