Few on-air TV newsers will have a busier Tuesday than Dana Perino. She’ll be hosting her own hour on Fox News, The Daily Briefing, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET. She’ll co-host The Five from 5-6 p.m. ET. “And after that, I’ll come back inside, warm up, and change so I can be in my election night outfit for the coverage of that begins at 7 p.m. and will last until we call it all,” Perino told TVNewser on Monday.
After our visit to the Fox Nation Election Experience, we hopped on the phone with Perino to get her thoughts about what will be a wild Tuesday.
“I’ve covered elections here since 2010,” said Perino. “This year, though, for the midterms it is the most energized and enthusiastic midterms that I’ve ever covered, maybe that I’ve ever been a part of, even given my past experience.”
What did she learn from 2016 that she’ll be applying to her coverage of Tuesday’s festivities?
“It’s important to remember that there are a wide variety of outcomes in any election, and that even if something is “15 percent chance” of happening, it’s still a chance,” said Perino. “I think that is something that I have been keeping in mind. I also feel like I’m pretty well versed in several of the key battleground races. The senate races are a little bit easier to follow because there aren’t as many of them as there are congressional races. Of the House districts that are competitive this year, I feel like we have a pretty good handle on them. Bill Hemmer and I have been quizzing each other everytime we see each other in the hallways or in the green rooms. I’ll say: ‘New Mexico 2,’ and he’ll tell me who’s running and who’s favored. He’ll hit me back with a ‘Virginia 7,’ and I’ll have to do the same for him.”
We also got Perino’s thoughts on Press Sec. Sarah Sanders and Trump’s attacks on the media. Perino was Pres. Bush’s press secretary from Sept. 2007 until his presidency was complete.
“I think she is doing a very good job in representing her boss,” said Perino. “I love the fraternity of press secretaries. We have such a good relationship amongst all of us, and that’s been one of the things I’ve always loved about being a part of the press secretary fraternity.”
Perino has been on both sides, as a press secretary and now as a TV journalist. Is the press “the enemy of the people,” as the president says?
“No,” Perino says, bluntly. “I do not agree. I also think that the fighting between administrations and the press goes all the way back to the founding of our country; and we have survived, and neither are the enemy of the other.”