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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Fox Family Feuding Over Russia-Gate

During a conversation with White House advisor Sebastian Gorka on Sean Hannity’s syndicated radio show Monday, Hannity called Fox News colleague Shep Smith “anti-Trump.”

“I like Shep,” Hannity said, noting that the two are friends. “But he’s so anti-Trump. I mean, he went off on a rant last week.”

Later in his show, Hannity said he had no problem that he and Smith disagreed about Trump. reports philly.com.

“Smith disagrees with me. And he does so vehemently,” Hannity said. “And the media was praising Shep and he’s not the biggest fan of Trump, fine!”

“Sometimes facts are displeasing. Journalists report them without fear or favor,” Smith said in a statement first reported by Mediaite.


Hannity seemed to be referencing a segment last week where Smith called out the White House for a level of deception he labeled “mind-boggling.”

Smith, speaking with Fox News colleague Chris Wallace, couldn’t contain his frustration at the administration’s apparent inability to come clean about a June 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer set up with the promise of Russian-backed dirt on Hillary Clinton.

“If there’s nothing there, and that’s what they tell us, why all these lies? Why is it lie after lie after lie?” an angry Smith asked Wallace. “There are still people out there who believe we’re making it up, and one day they’re gonna realize we’re not, and look around and go, ‘Where are we? And why are we getting told all these lies?’ ”


Hannity’s comments about Smith come as a growing divide is emerging at the popular news network. On one side, there are opinion hosts such as Hannity, Fox News Specialists host Eric Bolling, and The Five co-host (and Philadelphia native) Jesse Watters who have been outspoken defenders of Trump and his administration. Shows such as Fox & Friends, which President Trump watches and retweets on a daily basis, rarely features segments that paint the current administration in a negative light.

On the other side, news hosts such as Smith, Wallace, and Special Report host Bret Baier have often sided with the network’s more liberal commentators, like Juan Willians and Jehmu Green, in calling out the administration for what they see are basic problems with honestly and forthrightness, especially when it comes to meeting with foreign officials connected to Russia.

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