Fox News interviews with Republican party politicians don’t often serve as venues where the subject is pelted with challenging questions. However, that was not true on Monday when Special Report anchor Bret Baier grilled former President Donald Trump in his first TV interview since his federal indictment. Baier’s performance during that interview has earned him plenty of praise, including from many Fox News detractors.
The Trump-Baier sit-down, which did not air live, consists of two-parts, with the second part airing Tuesday during Special Report. During the interview, Baier asked probing questions about Trump’s most recent indictment relating to his handling of classified documents, the 2020 presidential election, and the various people he hired to serve in his administration.
The ex-president made unfounded claims and falsehoods throughout the conversation, and Baier challenged him on a lot (but not all) of those falsehoods.
Trump on his reluctance to hand over the documents:
Trump: I have every right to have those boxes pic.twitter.com/2z4bhWdhEo
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 19, 2023
Trump on the 2020 election:
Trump: I won in 2020 by a lot. Let’s get that straight.”
Bret Baier: “That’s not what the votes show.” pic.twitter.com/meFe5VxI0Y
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) June 19, 2023
Trump on insulting the very same people he hired while he was in office:
After going through a laundry list of insults Trump made toward people he hired in his administration, @BretBaier asks “Why did you hire all of them in the first place?” pic.twitter.com/Mmb0KlFKhO
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) June 19, 2023
Baier’s handling of Trump received plenty of kudos, even from Fox News critics.
Brett Baier still thinks he works for a news organization. I do not. But I am grateful to have him on air tonight because this is an oustanding question. Watch to the end. pic.twitter.com/UmlKMmKiOP via @Acyn
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) June 20, 2023
.@BretBaier did a masterful job interviewing Trump. Surprised Team Trump agreed to it. He’s no Sean Hannity, he cut his teeth in the WH press briefing room & knows how to hold politicians’ feet to the fire. A massive comms fail.
— Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) June 20, 2023
That Fox News committed an act of journalism last night shows that they were always capable but deliberately chose not to.
— Scott Shapiro (@scottjshapiro) June 20, 2023
Gonna say: Baier is not letting up. Good for him. Trump visibly pissed and starting to do his verbal hiccups like “are you ready”
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 19, 2023
Respect to @BretBaier for the focused and unflappable way he took on Trump just now.
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) June 19, 2023
And praise from a number of conservatives/Fox News supporters:
Excellent interview, Bret… firm, fair, didn’t let him get away with saying falsehoods, and the ‘best people’ exchange was so effective. Trump’s spiteful disloyalty to those who worked for him does him no credit. https://t.co/cH4ECLV8mq
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 20, 2023
Bret Baier conducted an extraordinary interview with Donald Trump who discussed the criminal allegations in detail. Statements of this kind are generally admissible at trial…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 19, 2023
Watch: Fox’s @brithume reviews @BretBaier’s interview with Trump: “A fine interview. You let him have his say but you challenged him as well you should have.” pic.twitter.com/w0DiHP7KGX
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) June 19, 2023
Naturally, this interview was compared to CNN’s disastrous town hall featuring the former president held back in May and one in which former CEO Chris Licht said history would look on kindly.
Anyone still at CNN who had anything to do with the Trump town hall should watch this Baier interview.
This is how you do it: One on one, in a quiet room — and not in an auditorium where the interviewer’s follow-up questions are overwhelmed by a cheering, jeering audience. https://t.co/ud9Cq4o660
— Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin) June 20, 2023