donald j. trump <u+2019>s rise has created deep rifts at some of the country<u+2019>s most powerful political institutions. the latest casualty: fox news. in an extraordinary public display of rancor between top-tier news personalities, the fox anchor sean hannity on wednesday accused his colleague megyn kelly of bias toward hillary clinton , writing in a late-night tweet , <u+201c>clearly you support her.<u+201d> mr. hannity<u+2019>s remark came shortly after ms. kelly, during her broadcast that evening, pointed out that mr. trump had restricted his media appearances in recent weeks to friendly questioners, including mr. hannity, who is an overt supporter of the republican nominee. <u+201c>with all due respect to my friend at 10 o<u+2019>clock, he will go on hannity and pretty much only hannity and will not venture out to the unsafe spaces these days,<u+201d> ms. kelly said of mr. trump. fox news has long insisted that its political journalists, like ms. kelly, operate separately from its prominent right-leaning commentators. but that distinction has been a source of increasing strain as mr. trump has avoided interviews with the network<u+2019>s news anchors in favor of more sympathetic personalities like mr. hannity and bill o<u+2019>reilly. the public clash also comes at an awkward time for fox news, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary on friday and has been trying to move forward from the ouster of its longtime chief, roger ailes, after several claims of sexual harassment. ms. kelly did not immediately respond to mr. hannity<u+2019>s online comments, which he issued several minutes after the beginning of his 10 p.m. broadcast on wednesday. mr. hannity did not address ms. kelly<u+2019>s remarks on his show. late on thursday, mr. hannity and ms. kelly simultaneously tweeted a photo of themselves smiling together on a fox news set, accompanied by a hashtag: <u+201c>#friends.<u+201d> both anchors included a version of the same caption: <u+201c>we<u+2019>re irish. it<u+2019>s complicated.<u+201d> television news is a bare-knuckle business, but it is considered a breach of decorum for an anchor to publicly assail a colleague. the exchange also hinted at generational tensions with fox news. mr. hannity, a network stalwart, is close to mr. ailes; ms. kelly, a newer addition, became one of fox<u+2019>s biggest stars by appealing to a younger audience, and she is widely seen as an important figure for the network<u+2019>s future. representatives for fox news declined to comment. the anchors<u+2019> exchange capped an already difficult week for the network, which has been criticized for a segment on <u+201c>the o<u+2019>reilly factor<u+201d> that featured a correspondent, jesse watters, conducting a series of mocking interviews with asian-americans in manhattan<u+2019>s chinatown neighborhood. asian-american groups denounced the segment as racist, citing its copious references to asian stereotypes. mayor bill de blasio called the segment <u+201c>vile<u+201d> and made his displeasure at fox news known on twitter, writing, <u+201c>keep this guy off tv.<u+201d> mr. watters, on twitter, said his interviews were meant as <u+201c>tongue-in-cheek,<u+201d> adding, <u+201c>i regret if anyone found offense.<u+201d>
megyn kelly and sean hannity indulge in testy public clash
michael m. grynbaum