Fox News: Hannity's Campaign Appearance With Trump Not OK

Hours after Fox News host Sean Hannity's controversial appearance at President Trump's final rally before the midterm elections, the network issued a rebuke of his actions, the AP reports. "Fox News does not condone any talent participating in campaign events," the network said in a statement Tuesday, per Variety. "We have an extraordinary team of journalists helming our coverage tonight and we are extremely proud of their work. This was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed." The statement did not say how it was addressed.

Hannity, who had said before the rally Monday that he was simply covering the rally for his show and would not appear on the campaign stage, tweeted Tuesday, "What I said in my tweet yesterday was 100% truthful. When the POTUS invited me on stage to give a few remarks last night, I was surprised, yet honored by the president’s request. This was NOT planned." He added, in reference to his comments while on stage that "all those people in the back are fake news": "To be clear, I was not referring to my journalist colleagues at FOX News in those remarks. They do amazing work day in and day out in a fair and balanced way and It is an honor to work with such great professionals." (One member of a media watchdog group said Fox might not "have any control over" Hannity.)