Hannity calls on Republicans to lean into ballot harvesting, early voting ahead of 2024: 'Get in the game'

Hannity urged GOP voters to embrace legal Democrat voting tactics or risk a 'big mistake'

Fox News host Sean Hannity urged Republican voters to step up and play the Democrats' "game" in the 2024 election or risk making a "big mistake." On "Fox & Friends" Monday, Hannity warned Republicans cannot get behind by hundreds of thousands of votes going into Election Day while Democrats capitalize on legal ballot harvesting, early voting and voting by mail.

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SEAN HANNITY: [Republicans] need a new approach when it comes to elections in this country. If you watch people like Joe Biden, who was able to hide in his basement and not really campaign, and John Fetterman and Katie Hobbs out in Arizona… They run hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars in negative ads. They hide in their basement. They are out there with these legal ballot harvesting operations, and Republicans have not gotten in that game. … So my challenge to the Republican Party is, and every conservative, you better get in the game that exists. And the game that exists is: embrace voting early, embrace voting by mail. And the Republican Party has done that. Glenn Youngkin put out a great program last week in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And the next most important thing is these ballot harvesting operations. People do not know ballot harvesting is legal in many states. In other words, other people picking up other people's ballots and handing them in. Republicans need to get in that game. And if they don't, they're making a big mistake. Now the RNC started ‘Bank Your Vote.’ Glenn Youngkin has a great plan in Virginia. But on that, they have to get a new approach in terms of how they view voting in elections or else they're going to start Election Day down 300,000, a million votes. And that is an awful lot of votes to catch up to Election Day.

At first glance, the 2024 presidential election evokes déjà vu. President Biden and former President Trump are the leading candidates, voters are sharply and evenly divided, and debates about policy are already giving way to attacks on leadership and personality. If both candidates make it to the general election ballot, it will mark the first time since 1956 that America has chosen a presidential rematch.

A look beneath the surface reveals new campaign themes and electoral vulnerabilities. Biden has presided over an economy that has delivered low unemployment but decades-high inflation, and most economists are pessimistic about the year ahead. He is also the oldest person ever to occupy the office and is now seeking a term that would end at age 86. 

Meanwhile, former President Trump has not appeared on a ballot since he baselessly cast doubt on the 2020 election, an effort which culminated with thousands of individuals storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Last month, he was indicted for allegedly keeping classified documents, including national defense information, at his Florida social club and obstructing attempts to recover them.

Fox News' Remy Numa contributed to this report. 

Authored by Fox News Staff via FoxNews July 17th 2023