Fox News‘ Sean Hannity has launched an unlikely defense of Taylor Swift and rumored romantic partner Travis Kelce.

Reacting to the songstress’s appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs game Sunday – and now-rife reports that the pair are dating – the network’s second highest rated host behind Carlson replacement Jesse Watters had some surprisingly kind words.

Conceding that Kelce – the Chief’s star tight end – is ‘woke‘ and a supporter of post-Dylan Mulvaney-Bud Light, the 61-year-old cited how Americans ‘live in a free country,’ and said he could care less about the athlete’s views.

In regard to Swift – one of the most prominent cultural figures of this century – he hailed both her business acumen and talent, shrugging off the fact she’s an outspoken Democrat.

Likely a response to the array of hate the alleged couple have seen in recent weeks, the spiel saw the talk show host call out those critics – which include fellow New Yorker Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo and Conservative writer Mark Hemingway.

Fox News ‘ Sean Hannity launched an unlikely defense of Taylor Swift and rumored romantic partner Travis Kelce on The Sean Hannity Show Thursday – saying, ‘I kind of hate people, you know, hating on her’

The spiel came in reaction to the songstress’s appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs game Sunday – and now-rife reports that the pair are dating – the network’s second highest rated host behind Carlson replacement Jesse Watters had some more surprisingly kind words

Noticing those naysayers – and the recent outcry from Republicans last month after Swift urged fans to vote, resulting in a record number of registrations – the TV titan simply stated: ‘I kind of hate people, you know, hating on her.’

He began the speech on Thursday’s taping of his eponymous program by telling both guest Jimmy Failla and his more than 2million strong daily watchers: ‘I want to say something before we get [started.]’

He continued: ‘I look at Taylor Swift – [and] if I picked my music based on their politics, I’d have five choices. Let’s be honest. You know, country, Christian contemporary, which are my favorite.

‘But I admire her talent,’ he quickly added, as slides of the Taylor taking in the Chief’s game against the Bears Sunday next to Kelce’s mother flashed on the screen.

‘She writes all her songs, she does these shows that have like nearly 50 songs – you know, sets in them.

He went on notice – and hail – Swift’s series of ‘wardrobe changes,’ most recently on display for her seminal Eras tour, which began in March and is projected to make somewhere around $5billion in consumer spending.

With this in mind, Hannity – who averages roughly 2.5million viewers per taping continued: ‘She’s a great businesswoman, seems like a lovely girl, extraordinarily nice to her fans.’

Defending a person with a reported net worth 15 times that of his own – at some $600million – he sniped: ‘I kind of hate people, you know, hating on her.’

Taylor was sitting next to Kelce’s mother, Donna, while wearing red-and-white, as the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Chicago Bears on Sunday

The popstar put on a very animated display throughout the game

The comments echoed many other business-minded expert opinions aired in recent months regarding Swift and her latest tour – including that of Dan Fleetwood, President of one of the industry’s leading providers of web-based research technologies, QuestionPro Research and Insights.

Speaking to GlobalNewsWire last month – prior to the fever pitch that surfaced this past Sunday when Swift showed up at Kelce’s game – the expert with more than 15 years of market research rightly stated: ‘If Taylor Swift were an economy, she’d be bigger than 50 countries.’

Others, however, have been markedly less kind to the singer, who broke out on the world scene with her 2006 single Tim McGraw when she was just 16.

In the span since, she has sold an estimated 114 million album units worldwide, and has won a slew of awards including 12 Grammys, three Album of the Year wins, a Primetime Emmy, 40 American Music Awards, and 29 Billboard Music Awards.

Still, figures like Mad Dog Russo – one of the country’s most prominent sportscasters – and Federalist editor Hemingway this week said they could not understand the world’s fascination with the woman, particularly when it comes to her romances.

‘I’m not into Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce so try somebody else for that,’ Russo said during Monday’s episode of “Mad Dog Unleashed”, which was recently inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame

Hannity – who averages roughly 2.5million viewers per taping continued: ‘She’s a great businesswoman, seems like a lovely girl, extraordinarily nice to her fans’

Likely a response to the array of hate the alleged couple have seen in recent weeks , the spiel also saw the talk show host call out those critics – which include fellow New Yorker Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo and Conservative writer Mark Hemingway

‘I could care less,’ the veteran YES critic went on. ‘I don’t care if Taylor Swift is nude in the box. I’m not that interested. I’m sorry, I could care less.’

Similarly, Hemmingway – a Federalist piece published earlier this month titled Taylor Swift’s Popularity Is A Sign Of Societal Decline – wrote that Swift’s lyrics are ‘Me Music’ and promote a culture of self-obsession.

‘Given her popularity in the face of this lyrical obsession, it’s a chicken-or-egg-first proposition about whether the cultural avatar of millennial females is famous for being near constantly romantically aggrieved,’ he wrote.

‘Even as TikTok is full of videos of women insisting, “No really, it’s great being 29 and unmarried and childless, I don’t want that at all, I get to sleep in on weekends and learn to make shakshuka, this is the most fulfilling life I can conceive of, I’M HAPPY WHY WON’T ANYONE BELIEVE ME?!”‘

Hemingway also harped on that her songs are about breakups and old flames and said that some of her lyrics are too obvious.

‘There’s yet another song on her latest record bashing one of her famous exes, John Mayer, following up on her infamous breakup song Dear John in 2010. Look, everyone knows Mayer was a terrible womanizer — but this was known before he dated her — and that was 14 YEARS AGO,’ he wrote.

‘It’s, as the kids say, pretty cringe to still be exploiting these past relationships, which considering Swift’s had a charmed life since she was a teenager, seem like pretty hollow examples of genuine heartbreak.’

In regard to Kelce – who recently was pictured enveloped in the pop star’s embrace at an afterparty – Hannity on Thursday was slightly less complimentary, but still said he recognized his talent as a football player and respected him as a person

Mentioning his recent 15-second commercial where cracked open a can of Bud Light after the recent scandal involving the trans TikToker that lost the beer’s parent company some $395 million in US sales, he called the Super Bowl winner ‘talented’ and wished him well

Kelce – seen here celebrating a touchdown during Sunday’s game – has yet to confirm he is dating the star

Bud light releases new ‘Backyard Grunts’ ad with Travis Kelce

In regard to Kelce – who recently was pictured enveloped in the pop star’s embrace at an afterparty – Hannity on Thursday was slightly less complimentary, but still said he recognized his talent as a football player and respected him as a person.

Mentioning his recent 15-second commercial where cracked open a can of Bud Light after the recent scandal involving the trans TikToker that lost the beer’s parent company some $395 million in US sales.

‘I know that Travis is woke, and he’s Bud Light, and he’s for the Covid shot. I just, you know what, if you want to listen and get advice from a football player, I don’t care,’ Hannity said.

‘Or a pop star. I don’t care where you get your advice. We live in a free country, they are entitled to their views, as much as I might disagree.

‘But I can also recognize talent and they’re both enormously talented. How’s this? I wish them the best, I hope it works for them.’

Kelce – who celebrated a touchdown during Sunday’s game by revving an imaginary motorcycle – has yet to confirm on the romance rumors.

Swift has yet to address the reports as well.