Fox News host Sean Hannity Sean Patrick HannityDershowitz suing CNN for 0 million in defamation suit If Trump doesn't know why he should be president again, how can voters? Trump says he read 'boring' Woodward book 'very quickly' MORE is pushing back against the criticism of his show and network's coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, blasting a group of journalism professors and journalists over their letter this week.

"Go to my web site and you'll see irrefutable evidence that I have taken this seriously way before most in the media did," Hannity told Newsweek. "I warned in January that it was dangerous because it was highly contagious, but some people were asymptomatic, so it would spread quickly."

He also said that he had never called the virus "a hoax."

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"They just go with their narrative. I never called it a 'hoax.' I said it was a hoax for them to be using it as a bludgeon on Trump. And they are. [Rep.] Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffOvernight Defense: House to vote on military justice bill spurred by Vanessa Guillén death | Biden courts veterans after Trump's military controversies Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings Democrats, advocates seethe over Florida voting rights ruling MORE and [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPowell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy Overnight Defense: House to vote on military justice bill spurred by Vanessa Guillén death | Biden courts veterans after Trump's military controversies Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings MORE are talking about an investigation. Now? In the middle of a pandemic?" he said.

The letter from the journalism professors called the network's coverage of the outbreak "a danger to public health" and mentioned several Fox News hosts by name, including Hannity.

Hannity stood by his assessment that Democrats and the media were initially trying to use COVID-19 to "bludgeon" President Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE.

"Many of them did. We are in the middle of the huge pandemic and where's the Democrat saying, 'You know, I didn't agree with the travel ban at the time, but it was the right decision.' Politics trumps truth in their world," Hannity said.

The letter cited a recent Pew Research poll in which 79 percent of Fox News viewers reported that they believed the media had overstated the potency of the virus. When asked about the results of the poll, Hannity said his viewers could be possibly less afraid of the virus because he tells them "what the president is doing every day" and interviews physicians "who express hope for a treatment."