Bret Baier - H 2015
Courtesy of Fox News ChannelFox News anchor Bret Baier has been publicly pleading since at least last August for President Trump to grant him an interview. In early September, he expressed confidence to The Hollywood Reporter that the interview, which was in the scheduling process, would happen.
Four and a half months later, Baier still hasn’t gotten his Trump interview. But, in an event held by The Washington Post on Tuesday, Baier said he’s received private assurances from Trump. “I’ve seen him off-the-record a couple times at engagements, and he’s said, ‘It’s going to happen very soon. Guaranteed. It’ll be huge,'” Baier said.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not respond to a question last month about Baier’s interest in booking the president.
Baier said the opinion hosts at Fox News, such as Laura Ingraham, have had a much easier time booking Trump. Last week, Baier conducted a newsy interview with Trump’s chief of staff, General John Kelly, that reportedly prompted a strong reaction from the president.
PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff, who appeared on the panel with Baier, said her show “is trying constantly” to book a Trump interview.
During the event, Baier said that context was necessary in the national discussion about whether the administration is trying to restrict the press. “There’s not a risk that suddenly this is going to become a banana republic and we’re all going to be going to Gitmo because we did a bad story,” he said.
Baier also said that Fox News “gets painted with a broad brush” by critics who conflate his show with opinion programming like Sean Hannity’s show. He then complimented his opinion-side colleague’s show. “Sean Hannity, for his opinion, he does an amazing job with bringing forward his thoughts on things,” he said.
