Who Is Ted Koppel? Retired ABC Host Tells Fox News' Sean Hannity He Is 'Bad For America'

Veteran journalist and retired ABC "Nightline" host Ted Koppel told Fox News anchor Sean Hannity that he is "bad for America" in an interview that aired Sunday on the "CBS Sunday Morning" show. Koppel and Hannity spoke on a segment about the state of American media and political polarization.

During the interview, Koppel showed clips of Hannity and radio host Rush Limbaugh as well as left-wing comedians like John Oliver and Stephen Colbert and cited all of them as examples of important personalities in the media who are "driving the country further and further apart." Koppel added that the combination of opinion and editorial content is dangerous.

Hannity, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump who has been accused of blurring the line between opinion and news, responded to Koppel calling him "cynical." Hannity also defended his style of journalism and said, "We have to give some credit to the American people that they're somewhat intelligent and that they know the difference between an opinion show and a news show."

Koppel agreed that he is cynical, to which Hannity responded: "Do you think we're bad for America? You think I'm bad for America?"

"Yeah," Koppel replied to Hannity's question. Koppel tried to put forward his arguments but Hannity kept on interrupting him. The veteran journalist also said that Hannity is "very good" at what he does but also criticized him and said, "You have attracted people who are determined that ideology is more important than facts."

Koppel's full name is Edward James Martin "Ted" Koppel. The British-born American broadcast journalist is best known in the media industry for hosting ABC's "Nightline" show since its inception from 1980 to 2005. Koppel retired in late 2005. Koppel has been critical of Fox News earlier. In March 2016, while speaking to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, Koppel told O'Reilly that he had made reporting on Trump's campaign "irrelevant."

"You have changed the television landscape over the past 20 years. You took it from being objective and dull to subjective and entertaining. And in this current climate, it doesn’t matter what the interviewer asks him — Trump is gonna say whatever he wants to say, as outrageous as it may be," Koppel told O’Reilly, according to New York Daily News.

After CBS aired the segment Sunday, Hannity took to Twitter and criticized it. He accused CBS of shortening the 45-minute interview and said CBS was broadcasting "Fake Edited News."