Sarah Palin will sit down Monday with fellow Fox pundit and notorious softball lobber Sean Hannity, according to the New York Times, for her first interview since wading into the debate over the Tucson shooting.
Palin’s decision to do her first post-Tucson interview on Fox News isn’t too surprising given that she’s a paid Fox contributor who’s often expressed disdain for the so-called ‘lamestream media.’ But Hannity’s show in particular should provide her with a very friendly setting to speak her mind without getting grilled.
In the past, Hannity’s show has given Republicans a safe venue to sit in the spotlight while avoiding tough questions others in the media were dying to ask. Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, and Christine O’Donnell took to his show after they face planted out of the starting gate in the midterm elections. And Palin herself has been down this road before, having gone on Hannity’s program in 2008 after her much maligned performances in interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric.
Palin became the center of much media attention in the wake of the Tucson tragedy for her history of fiery rhetoric and for a map issued last year by her PAC that used gun sights to identify congressional Democratic districts that she hoped to target in the midterms. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in Tucson on Saturday, was among those targeted on the map.
In an online video posted Wednesday, Palin accused her critics of “blood libel” for linking her to the shooting, immediately prompting another round of criticism against the former half-term Alaska governor.
