William Bret Baier (/ˈbrɛtˈbeɪər/BRETBAY-ər;[1] born August 4, 1970) is an American journalist and the host of Special Report with Bret Baier on the Fox News Channel and the chief political anchor for Fox.[2] He previously worked as the network's Chief White House Correspondent and Pentagon correspondent.
On September 11, 2001, he drove from Georgia to Arlington, Virginia, to cover the attack on the Pentagon. He never returned to the Atlanta bureau and was instead tapped as the network's Pentagon correspondent, remaining at the post for five years and taking 11 trips to Afghanistan and 13 trips to Iraq.[7]
On December 23, 2008, Hume anchored his final show and announced Baier would replace him as anchor of Special Report.[8] He hosted his first show as permanent anchor on January 5, 2009.[2]
In an email shortly after the 2020 United States presidential election, Baier argued that Fox should pull its projection that Joe Biden had won the state of Arizona.[9] Baier worried that the projection, which turned out to be accurate, might upset Fox viewers enough for them to abandon the network.[10]
In October 2021, Baier promoted his new book To Rescue the Republic: Ulysses S. Grant, the Fragile Union, and the Crisis of 1876 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[11]
In June 2023, Baier interviewed former U.S. President Donald Trump.[12] In that interview, Baier pressed Trump on his refusal to return classified documents,[13] asked him why he insulted people he himself had hired,[14] and disputed his repeated claims that the 2020 election was stolen, at one point saying to him, "You lost the 2020 election."[15] Baier was roundly praised for his performance in the interview.[16][17]
In October 2023, Baier planned to host a discussion between the candidates vying to replace Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. After his ouster, Representatives Kevin Hern, Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise planned to join Baier to make their public case for House Leadership on Special Report. However, the plans fell through after other House Republicans became angry at the idea, calling it a "horrible idea" and a "distraction".[22][23][24]
On October 16, 2024, Baier met with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Fox News for her first interview on this network.[26] The interview was described as "contentious" and "fiery", with Baier frequently interrupting Harris and the two talking over each other.[27] Baier's "combative interview delivered an average of 7.8 million viewers...according to Nielsen data"[28] and got "9.2 million viewers including 1.12 million in the key A24-54 demo, according to finalized data."[29]
Reception
Baier has received numerous awards for his work. In 2016, Baier earned the Kenneth Y. Tomlinson Award for Outstanding Journalism from the Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship Program.[30] In 2017, he received the Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism from the National Press Foundation[31] and the Urbino Press Award from the Municipality of Urbino.[32]
Baier and his wife Amy have two sons, Daniel and Paul.[35] Paul was born with cardiac problems and before the child's open-heart surgery in 2008, President George W. Bush invited Baier and his wife and son to the Oval Office for a visit and had the White House physician update him on Paul's progress.[2] In 2009, Baier was named a "Significant Sig" by the Sigma Chi Fraternity.[36]
Baier has played golf with Donald Trump and has been Trump's guest at his Mar-a-Lago resort. [37]
Works
Special Heart: A Journey of Faith, Hope, Courage and Love (2014) ISBN9781455583638
Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower's Final Mission (2017) ISBN9780062569035
Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire (2018) ISBN9780062748362
Three Days at the Brink: FDR's Daring Gamble to Win World War II (2019) ISBN9780062905680
To Rescue the Republic: Ulysses S. Grant, the Fragile Union, and the Crisis of 1876 (2021) ISBN9780063039544
To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment (2023) ISBN9780063039582
.jpg)
