Michael Wolff attacked CNN's Brian Stelter on the air, calling him 'full of sanctimony'

• Michael Wolff flipped out at CNN's Brian Stelter on the air, calling him "full of sanctimony."
• The pair were discussing Wolff's latest book on Donald Trump's presidency.
• Wolff told Stelter: "You are one of the reasons people can't stand the media."

The journalist Michael Wolff criticized the CNN host Brian Stelter during a combative interview Sunday on Stelter's show, calling him "full of sanctimony" and saying he was "one of the reasons people can't stand the media."

Wolff was appearing on "Reliable Sources" to discuss his latest book on Donald Trump's presidency, "Landslide."

Stelter suggested Wolff had previously sought to secure access to Trump by criticizing Stelter and CNN during an appearance on "Reliable Sources" in 2017.

Wolff acknowledged that Trump - a frequent critic of CNN - had called him the day after the interview to congratulate him for bashing the network.

But he denied that the criticism was intended to curry favor with Trump.

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"I don't want you to think that what I said at that point was in any way inauthentic. I think the media has done a terrible job on this," Wolff told Stelter.

"I think you yourself, while you're a nice guy, you're full of sanctimony. You become one of the parts of the problem of the media.

"You come on here and you have a monopoly on truth, you know exactly how things are supposed to be done."

He added: "You are one of the reasons people can't stand the media. Sorry, it's your fault."

Asked by Stelter what the CNN host should do differently, Wolff replied: "Don't talk so much. Listen more."

The pair also clashed earlier in the interview over a claim in Wolff's book that Rupert Murdoch personally authorized Fox News to call Arizona for Joe Biden in last year's presidential election.

Wolff told Stelter he was well-sourced at Fox News because he had written a book about the network and the Murdochs.

"I am Rupert Murdoch's biographer," he said.

"One of many," Stelter said.

"No, not one of many. That's totally ridiculous," Wolff replied, adding that he had been given "enormous access" to Murdoch for the book.

Fox News denied Wolff's reporting in a statement to Insider. Some of his claims in previous books about Trump have been disputed by multiple journalists.