The discursive construction of the Trump impeachment: delegitimation strategies and moral panic on Hannity

This paper explores the discursive tactics employed by Fox News, centered around an analysis of the television program Hannity. My research consisted of the transcription and coding of six episodes of the program. All data revolving around the impeachment of president Donald Trump was recorded. Through a discourse analysis of these transcripts, I explore two main questions. The first is, what kinds of discursive tactics are utilized to maintain support for Trump? The second question is, what is the intended purpose of these tactics? By using a framework of moral panic and moral regulation, I theorize that Hannity utilizes discursive tactics of othering, which serves to deviantize any group or individual who detract from the show's Trump-biased narrative. Once a group or individual is deviantized, their actions and opinions become delegitimated. This serves to the credibility of Hannity's narrative that Donald Trump was wrongfully persecuted by a partisan stunt.