Sean Hannity Lashes Out at 'New York Times' Over Trump Confidant Story

The Fox News host was quickly on the defensive, labeling the publication "fake news" and questioning whether he was under surveillance by the NSA.

Fox News host Sean Hannity lashed out at The New York Times on Twitter on Saturday following a report labeling him a confidant of President Donald Trump. Others named in the report are Fox News owner and founder Rupert Murdoch, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone.

"@nytimes You colluded with HRC in 2016. It's none of your business who i do or do not talk too. Total fake news speculation about me/@POTUS," Hannity responded on Twitter, echoing similar claims made by Trump that described the Times as "fake news" and accused the publication of favoring Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

@nytimes You colluded with HRC in 2016. It's none of your business who i do or do not talk too. Total fake news speculation about me/@POTUS — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 22, 2017

The Times article referred to Hannity as a "surrogate" for Trump and argues the Conservative pundit defends the president's "most controversial behavior in public, but privately ... urges the president not to get distracted, and advises him to focus on keeping pledges like repealing the Affordable Care Act."

Hannity was quick to call out the publication, tweeting, "The @nytimes has no clue who I talk to as I refuse to EVER TALK TO THEM!" The host claims he "NEVER" talked to the Times and questioned whether he was under surveillance from the NSA in a separate tweet.

The @nytimes has no clue who I talk to as I refuse to EVER TALK TO THEM! @POTUS knows you are FAKE NEWS and I doubt he talks to u either. — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 22, 2017

@nytimes Any conversation I have with ANYONE is supposed to be PRIVATE. I have NEVER talked to you. Was I surveilled and unmasked by u/NSA? — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 22, 2017

The Times' White House correspondent and author of the report, Maggie Haberman, responded to Hannity's tweets, calling the piece "hardly critical" of the Fox News host.

She also asserted that she had spoken to the network's PR team before publishing her report and noted that her article was more interested in Trump than Hannity. "W all due respect, we were interested in who POTUS talks to, not you, and several ppl close to him cited you," Haberman wrote in response to Hannity's tweets.

W all due respect, we were interested in who POTUS talks to, not you, and several ppl close to him cited you https://t.co/sb9y4nDJYt — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 22, 2017