Fox News host Sean Hannity criticized Republican presidential candidates for bringing “families and wives” into the race and getting distracted from other issues following recent attacks between Republican candidates on their wives, contradicting years of his attacks against first lady Michelle Obama.

Hannity has frequently attempted to smear the first lady over the years by ridiculing her comments encouraging kids to go to college, claiming she had a “deep rooted anger” and “bitterness” about American race relations, and repeatedly attempting to smear her as “unpatriotic.” His show has also frequently featured guests attacking Michelle Obama on a litany of fronts, including her health initiatives and her disposition.

Despite Hannity's frequent attacks on Michelle Obama, during the March 28 edition of Fox News' Hannity, the host said that by bringing wives and family members into play the Republican primary was beginning to “coalesce around the wrong things we ought to be talking about” adding “for the life of me, I don't understand when families and wives are brought into it”:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): I'm watching this circular firing squad emerge in this campaign on the Republican side and it concerns me because I think at the end of the day people's tensions are way too high, we're not focused on issues, and the Democrats are loving the intramural squabble. And it's distracting from the fact that Hillary Clinton is about to be interviewed by the FBI.

[...]

For the life of me, I don't understand when families and wives are brought into it. And I'm just trying to look at it fairly from both sides. I'm sure he's mad about the ad about Melania. I'm sure he assumed it was the Cruz campaign. Cruz says no. Then he does a retweet. That then is on him. And then you have this whole thing that breaks in the National Enquirer, which I think is total BS also. But I know that that was -- you know, that was pitched a long time ago by another campaign. So it all gets -- it all begins to coalesce around the wrong things we ought to be talking about.