USAA to reinstate ads on ‘Hannity’

The United Services Automobile Association (USAA), a financial services company, announced Tuesday it will resume advertising on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, The Associated Press reported.

USAA was one of almost a dozen companies that initially pulled their ads from “Hannity” after he kept peddling a false conspiracy theory involving the 2016 death of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staff member.

Fox News first retracted the story, but Hannity refused to follow suit last week.

{mosads}“I retracted nothing,” he said on his show. Hannity, however, agreed not to talk about the story at the moment “out of respect for the family.”

USAA, which had suspended running its paid advertisements on other political programs as well, will reinstate advertising on shows such as CNN’s “The Lead” and MSNBC’s “Hardball” and “The Rachel Maddow Show.”

The firm, which serves many military service members and veterans, told the news wire it will keep advertising with those news outlets as it reviews the company’s advertising policy regarding political and opinion programs.

USAA said it heard from its customers about the decision.

“We heard concerns from many members who watch and listen to these programs,” USAA said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our goal in advertising has always been to reach members of the military community who would benefit from USAA’s well-known commitment to service. Today, the lines between news and editorial are increasingly blurred.”

This story was updated at 4:09 p.m.