Fox News host Sean Hannity targeted CNN’s Jim Acosta during the opening monologue of his show Thursday, calling the White House correspondent “the king of lies.”

Hannity said that while he would “be the first person to jump in and personally defend any journalist who was attacked anywhere in the country,” he said Americans also have the freedom of speech and the "duty" to call out “fake news.”

“The fact that the people of this country are so fed up with their bias, their lying, is not a call for violence at all,” Hannity said. “As a matter of fact, it’s actually freedom of speech and our duty to call out blatant lies, fake news for what it is. And it’s no surprise that you, the American people, no longer trust the so-called mainstream media.”

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Hannity said that Acosta, who he referred to as “the king of lies” and the “king of fake news,” had attempted “to self-righteously seize the moral high ground” during a Thursday exchange with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a White House press briefing.

Acosta and Sanders went back and forth, during which the press secretary refused to say that the media was not the enemy of the American people.

“I think the president has made his position known,” Sanders said. “It’s ironic, Jim, that not only you and the media attack the president for his rhetoric when they frequently lower the level of conversation in this country.”

Acosta walked out of the briefing before it ended.

Following the exchange, Acosta appeared on CNN and said the White House "has lost sight of" the fact that the press is not an enemy of the U.S.

Hannity said on Thursday that while there are acts of violence and harassment that take place every day, "Saying that you’re a liar and calling out fake news is only words" and is not a call for violence.