MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell said CNN pays some contributors on the network to "lie" for President Trump.

O’Donnell, 68, appeared on comedian and former Sen. Al Franken’s podcast on an episode released on Sunday. O’Donnell told the former Democratic senator that a key difference between MSNBC and CNN is that "we don’t bring on liars."

"One-third of the people on their payroll love Trump, so you are guaranteed on any hour of CNN a minimum one-third of the programming will be supportive of Trump," O’Donnell said.

"That's one of the reasons why Trump kind of wants you to watch CNN instead of MSNBC. Because he knows on MSNBC, there will be no one defending him because we don’t bring on liars. I don’t bring on a liar. I won't do that," O’Donnell continued. "Trump knows that if you watch CNN, at least you’ll hear someone lying in [his] favor, so that’s one of the reasons why he attacks CNN."

When asked if a person has to lie to defend the president, O'Donnell said: "Yes, absolutely you do. How else do you defend a liar — a pathological liar who lies about everything? You have to lie."

He continued, "So CNN has people on the payroll who they pay to tell their lies to the CNN audience in the middle of a CNN hour for some number of minutes."

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.

Franken, 68, served as a senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He resigned from office following weeks of sexual misconduct allegations and calls from members of his party to step down.

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