Hannity is stooge, not too bright and easily fell into the abyss where he never should have inserted himself. He wanted to pretend how great a friend he was with RUSH, which I never believed. A professional acquaintance at best.
I suspect Rush treated him with respect and decency as Rush treated most people. Vanity probably took that to mean more than it did, kind of like when the class nerd thinks the homecoming queen is in love with him because she was nice enough to sign his yearbook.