“My bosses have only given me nothing but support and appreciation for the high ratings I get,” Mr. Hannity replied, as a makeup artist fussed with his hair. “As far as my colleagues? I don’t mean this to be disrespectful, but I don’t care what they think. They’ve got their role, and I’ve got mine.”

Mr. Hannity was in a feisty mood, referring to this bearded reporter as a “hippie” and suggesting that he would not get a fair shake from The New York Times. He said that he had great admiration for Fox’s reporters, even if opinion shows like his own helped set his network apart.

“Why are we successful? What’s the reason? Part of the reason is people like me,” Mr. Hannity said. “I would argue that you take away what I do, and what Bill O’Reilly does and what others do, you lose the flavor that makes us different, and then we’re just basically the same as everybody else.”…

“This is the spice!” he said, laughing, referring to his show. “We’re getting back to the spicy part of the network, the one that pays the bills.”