'If you were hearing what I'm hearing, you'd be vaping too': Sean Hannity privately called Trump 'bats--- crazy,' according to a new book

• A new book details private conversations the Fox News host Sean Hannity had with friends in which he expressed dismay at what he was hearing from President Donald Trump.
• "Early on in the Trump age, Hannity gained weight and vaped incessantly, which some members of his inner circle blamed on Trump-related stress," Brian Stelter, CNN's chief media correspondent, wrote in "Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth," set to be published next week.
• The book — an excerpt of which was published by Vanity Fair on Thursday — says Hannity told a colleague, "If you were hearing what I'm hearing, you'd be vaping too."
• "I barely get a word in," Hannity told another confidant of his conversations with Trump, Stelter wrote.

Seeking an escape from President Donald Trump's rambling monologues over the phone early in his presidency, the Fox News opinion host Sean Hannity turned to vaping and stress-eating, a new book from CNN's Brian Stelter says.

"Early on in the Trump age, Hannity gained weight and vaped incessantly, which some members of his inner circle blamed on Trump-related stress," Stelter, CNN's chief media correspondent, wrote in his new book, "Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth," set to be published by Simon & Schuster on Tuesday.

The book — an excerpt of which was published in Vanity Fair on Thursday — says Hannity told a colleague, "If you were hearing what I'm hearing, you'd be vaping too."

Stelter said he spoke with more than 140 staffers at Fox News and 180 former employees and people "with direct ties to the network" for the book.

The book focuses on Trump's relationship with Hannity — "the president's 'shadow chief of staff,' as he was known around the White House," Stelter wrote.

The access Hannity enjoyed also came with some downsides, Stelter's sources said.

"Hannity counseled Trump at all hours of the day; one of his confidants said the president treated Hannity like Melania, a wife in a sexless marriage," he wrote. "Arguably, he treated Hannity better than Melania."

For all his pro-Trump coverage on his 9 p.m. show, Hannity, the longest-serving Fox News anchor, privately griped about the president, the book says.

"'Hannity would tell you, off-off-off the record, that Trump is a bats--- crazy person,' one of his associates said," Stelter wrote, adding that another friend told him, "Hannity has said to me more than once, 'he's crazy.'"

Hannity also told a colleague that on his calls with Trump, "I barely get a word in," the book says.

Trump, who often live-tweets Fox News programming, would also chat with Hannity as a fan.

"Trump was just like the rest of Hannity's viewers: He wanted more of Gregg Jarrett on the show, more of Dan Bongino, more of Newt Gingrich—the toadiest toads possible," Stelter wrote.