During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump took various shots at Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, going lower with each blow while doing everything he could to ensure his victory. One talking point that Trump stuck to was his praise of WikiLeaks for releasing hacked information about the Clinton campaign, though his administration doesn't appear to be so pleased with them at the moment.

Fox News on Trump

One of the big blows to Hillary Clinton and her chances at become the first female commander in chief in American history came during the slow drip release of information by Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.

The consensus is that Russian hackers found their way into the emails of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta and released them to WikiLeaks as a way to damage the chances of the former Secretary of State. In response, Donald Trump was pleased with what was taking place, despite opposing the group in the past when he wasn't able to benefit from them politically. While campaigning, Trump actually went as far as to say "I love WikiLeaks!" After CIA director Mike Pompeo criticized the group this week, Fox News host Shepard Smith was quick to call out the administration during an April 13 broadcast.

Shepard Smith took to the air on Fox News on Thursday and highlighted Mike Pompeo's speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Pompeo blasted WikiLeaks, referring to them as a "non-state hostile intelligence service" who were being "abetted by state actors like Russia." Not stopping there, Pompeo accused WikiLeaks of having the one goal of "personal self-aggrandizement" which they plan to achieve by the "destruction of Western values." At this point, Smith didn't hold back, ripping into Pompeo and Donald Trump.

"It was Donald Trump who said, 'I love WikiLeaks!" Shepard Smith noted, before mockingly pointing out, "You love them when it's working for you, and you hate them when it's not." Smith's comment came just moments after he questioned whether WikiLeaks and the Russian-state news outlet were working together.

"Are WikiLeaks and Russia the same thing?" Smith wondered, while referring to RT as the "propaganda arm of the Russian government."

Smith's isolation

Shepard Smith is one of the few hosts on Fox News that has often taken Donald Trump and his administration to task over a variety of issues, especially when it comes to Russia's hacking of the election. Smith's stance is in stark contrast to fellow Fox News host Sean Hannity, who has labeled the Russian scandal as "fake news," while promoting the president's talking points and agenda.
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