Brian Stelter: The Director of the FBI is Saying ‘Don’t Believe Trump’s Friends’ Like Hannity

One of the more curious cable news rivalries was on full display Tuesday morning when CNN’s Brian Stelter took aim at Sean Hannity and his “misinformation campaign” on behalf of President Donald Trump.

The discussion came on CNN’s New Day, the day after FBI Director Christopher Wray’s dismissal of the baseless conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 general election, a narrative that has been promoted by Trump as well as his political and media surrogates, despite being dismissed as part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Wray said during an interview with ABC News, “We have no information that indicates the Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election,” before calling out the media diet of American citizens. “I think it’s important for the American people to be thoughtful consumers of information, to think about the sources of it.”

After airing that specific segment, New Day co-host Alisyn Camerota focused on America’s media consumption noting Wray’s belief that, “it’s important for the American people to be thoughtful consumers of information,” and “they have to use critical thinking.” She read Wray’s comment that “it’s going to be up to voters and the people to determine the truth because we can’t count on our leaders to give us the real information.”

Stelter argued the lack of critical thinking lays “at the heart of the problem this digital age. This is something that predates Trump and it’s getting worse in the Trump years.”

“As long as there is a president who’s leading a misinformation campaign to confuse the public, we’re going to have these problems,” Stelter said before turning to the Fox News primetime host. “People like Sean Hannity are an outgrowth of that fundamental problem.”

Stelter then interpreted Wray’s comment: “He’s basically saying don’t believe right-wing media. This is the Trump-appointed FBI director saying don’t believe Trump’s friends.”

Stelter has been a tireless critic of Fox News’s opinion programming, so much so that he has earned derision from Fox News personalities — namely Sean Hannity, who has dismissed the CNN host’s media coverage as an obsession.

Watch above via CNN.