Sean Hannity joined the #CombatCOVID19Challenge on Sunday — but instead of buying groceries for a community center or delivering food to hospitals, like some of his other Fox News colleagues, the primetime host donated 500 Yankees tickets to medical workers in New York.
The catch, of course, is that the Yankees — and the rest of Major League Baseball — currently aren’t playing any games due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, so it’s not immediately clear when any of the medical workers would be able to use the tickets. (And whether health-care workers on the frontlines of the pandemic are going to be eager to return to a crowded stadium anytime soon.)
The #CombatCOVID19Challenge was started by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) two weeks ago to “encourage Americans to support each other” and demonstrate “acts of kindness and compassion,” particularly for essential workers on the front lines, as the nation fights against COVID-19.
The challenge has since spread across social media, with various political and media figures tagging one another to participate by showing something they’ve done to give back to their communities.
Hannity — who tagged his “friends” Eric and Lara Trump to participate in the challenge after him — was first challenged by “Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt, who delivered groceries to her local community center.
The Fox News host has been vocal in the past about his desire for the country to reopen so he can attend baseball games again.
“You’ll have to accept they’re not going to have popcorn and peanuts because you have to keep your respirator off the whole time to eat it, but maybe you could have a hot dog, and, you know, you take a bite and you put your mask back on. You know, you slip a straw with a beer or coke, and you sip it that way with your mask on, what’s the big deal? That doesn’t bother me,” Hannity said during an April 16 episode of his radio show. “If the option is that I get to go to the game but I have to get the temperature checked, wear a mask and gloves, I’ll choose to go. My choice, everyone else has to make their own minds up.”
Challenge met. I called my friend Randy Levine of the NY .@Yankees and purchased 500 Yankee Tkts for The Hero medical workers all over NY. Randy and Hal Steinbrenner and the Yankees immediately donated 500 more tkts!!
I now Challenge My friends
.@LaraLeaTrump and .@EricTrump https://t.co/YLQEMEMauY— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 26, 2020