Smith and Hannity live in different realities, and that is a problem for Fox News. A division between news and opinion is standard — and healthy — at many media outlets, but facts and alternative facts cannot coexist.
.. In March, Fox News suspended legal analyst Andrew Napolitano for making an unsupported claim that British intelligence officials spied on Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign at the request of President Barack Obama.
In that case, as in the current one involving Clinton and Uranium One, it was Smith who set the record straight on his afternoon show.
.. This recent history would seem to bode well for Smith. When Hannity and Napolitano made assertions that were contrary to the reporting of others at Fox News, it was the pundits who had to back down or face a penalty.
.. “Were Fox forced to choose, it would choose Hannity over Shep,”
.. “The network has clearly placed its chips on Trump — witness the reshuffling of the lineup to highlight Trumpier voices, including Tucker Carlson — and you’d be hard-pressed to find a more pro-Trump voice than Hannity.”
.. “Rupert Murdoch highly prizes and highly pays Shep Smith because he brings credibility to the network. … Hannity gets away with a lot but also toes the line when he’s asked to.
Fox News’ Shep Smith Methodically Debunks Uranium One Conspiracy Theories
Wallace: Fair-Minded Citizens ‘Ought to Be Concerned’ About Russia Revelations
The obvious question: If the meeting was a “waste of time” & a “nothing burger,” why lie after lie after lie?
Shep Smith slams Spicer for ducking questions about Kushner’s Russia call
Shep Smith blistered white House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Tuesday afternoon for refusing to put Kushner contacts with the Russia story to rest.
Speaking with Politico report Josh Gerstein, Smith pointed out the obvious: that Spicer still hasn’t denied reports that Kushner held inappropriate meetings with Russians.
“Remember how they found out about it in the first place,” Smith asked. “Yeah a leak, But how? Here’s how they found out — they were monitoring the Russians. While they are monitoring the Russians, as the story goes, all of a sudden there’s Jared Kushner. There they are discussing a backchannel that doesn’t involve the United States equipment but Russian equipment.”
“If that didn’t happen, if Jared Kushner wasn’t trying to hide things from the United States, then why would he do that?” he continued. “If he didn’t do that, please deny it so we can move on. That opportunity was given today in the White House press briefing.”