The gist of Sean Hannity's Fox News show is becoming a method to provide an alternative narrative to the media's reporting on the conservative movement — and problems in the Donald Trump administration.
But for those who watch "Hannity" even sporadically, they often find themselves living an alternative reality.
Now Trump is turning on their own colleague at Fox whose dared to say that the Trump administration is lying.
Speaking on his radio program Monday with White House adviser Sebastian Gorka, Hannity described Fox News host Shepard Smith as a friend before calling him the most derogatory term conservative media has to offer these days: anti-Trump.
"I like Shep," Hannity said, first picked up by CNN. "But he's so anti-Trump. I mean, he went off on a rant last week."
Hannity was referring to Smith's reporting on the Donald Trump Jr. meeting with a Russian attorney. Smith, confounded that Trump Jr. misrepresented the basis for the meeting and the number of people who attended it, said that the president's son had told "lie after lie."
Hannity's No. 1 role on Fox News has been so far to combat every negative news story about the Republican president. He has tried desperately to delegitimize the journalism of organizations like The Washington Post and Fox competitor CNN.
As the Russia story picks up steam, however, even Fox News has had to address the damning reports, which means Hannity has had to contradict his own co-workers.
Smith, for his part, sounds unfazed by Hannity's talking points. Smith took a subtle shot at Hannity in a statement to Mediaite, reminding the outlet that journalists must report facts "without fear or favor."
“Sometimes facts are displeasing. Journalists report them without fear or favor,” Smith said.
Hannity has long insulated himself from critiques on his reporting style by insisting that he is not a journalist but a political commentator.
No one can say that Hannity always refuses to tell the facts. He'll do it as long as he frames it as a loss for the GOP — and not a loss for the president.
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