Ted Koppel Tells Sean Hannity He Thinks He’s Bad for America

CBS Sunday Morning today featured a piece from Ted Koppel on America’s serious divisions and a back-and-forth between Koppel and Fox News’s Sean Hannity on the subject.

Koppel opened by talking about the “alternate universes” Americans are living in these days, running clips of people like Hannity, John Oliver, and Tomi Lahren in talking about the people who are “driving the country further and further apart.”

Part of Koppel’s report focused on the rise of conservative media and the influence it’s played on the current state of American politics, citing Rush Limbaugh in particular.

In the snippet of the interview that aired during the segment, Hannity told Koppel he needs to give the American people a little more credit––that they can distinguish between news and opinion programming.

He sensed Koppel’s cynicism and asked, “You think we’re bad for America? You think I’m bad for America?”

Koppel said, “Yeah.”

Hannity told him “that’s sad” and reiterated his belief that he’s “selling the American people short.”

Koppel offered Hannity a partial compliment by saying he’s very good at what he does, but added that he’s also “attracted people who are determined that ideology is more important than facts.”

Koppel also spoke with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet for the piece.

Watch above, via CBS.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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