By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Smith recently critiqued Fox's opinion shows as mere entertainment that follows no rules.
Out Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith is going on what he calls a previously planned one-week vacation amid a feud with other hosts, whose work he's recently critqued.
In a Time interview published Thursday, Smith, who specializes in straightforward news, said some of the opinion-oriented programming on Fox News "is there strictly to be entertaining." He added, "They don't really have rules on the opinion side. They can say whatever they want."
A couple of Fox's leading opinionators, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, quickly struck back. Both sent tweets out Friday.
\u201cAlways liked Shep, but his comments were inconsiderate & inaccurate. The hard working team at the Ingraham Angle does real reporting, develops impt sources and scores big interviews. Very proud of them. https://t.co/3aR1EHAK3Z\u201d— Laura Ingraham (@Laura Ingraham) 1521221127
Smith has stood out at Fox for his willingness to do stories critical of Donald Trump -- and to critique the opinion hosts for promoting negative stories about more liberal politicians, such as Hillary Clinton, that are not backed up by facts. Hannity once called Smith "so anti-Trump."
Smith announced Friday afternoon on his Shepard Smith Reporting program that he's "going to take a one-week vacation that was previously planned, and be back in a week, and everything will be peachy-keen and hunky-dory," as The Hill reports. Fellow Fox anchor Chris Wallace, whom Smith was interviewing, responded, "That's what they always say: previously planned and one-week vacation." However, Smith, who is Fox's chief anchor and managing editor, just signed a contract extension for several years.
