Fox News Host On President Trump’s Attacks On The Media: ‘I Think It’s A Problem’
Relatively speaking, President Donald Trump tends to receive more favorable coverage from cable news giant Fox News than he does from other media outlets, given his relationships with a number of opinion hosts on the network.
However, that hasn’t stopped the president from hurling attacks their way, especially in recent weeks.
According to The Hill, on Tuesday while speaking with CBS, Fox News’ chief political anchor Bret Baier spoke out against Trump’s seemingly relentless attacks on what he calls the “fake news” media, along with sometimes labeling the media the “enemy of the people” after he receives less-than-flattering coverage.
“I think it’s a problem. I don’t love — that’s a bad phrase. I think it’s — we’re all trying to do our job,” Baier said with regard to the president’s anti-media messaging.
Baier, host of the top-rated Fox News nightly program Special Report, explained that his network takes Trump’s insults “in stride.”
“I think it’s part of the deal, as you guys know. Listen, we’re trying to call balls and strikes. If we can do that every day — be fair to him but also cover the news fairly to all sides — that’s what I’m trying to do,” Baier said.
Trump’s relationship with Fox News has at least somewhat changed over the past several months, as the president has launched attacks on a number of current and former personalities at the network, including a a recent attack on long-time host Chris Wallace.
The president blasted Wallace for his coverage on the Ukraine phone-call controversy, insulting Wallace in a tweet that said the respected anchor “will never be his father,” as previously reported by The Inquisitr.
Wallace responded to Trump’s comparison to his father, legendary newsman Mike Wallace, saying that Trump has long compared him to his father before saying the president is the one with the “daddy problem” and not him.
Is POTUS calling journalists the "enemy of the people" something you feel endangers the press?
“I think it’s a problem. I don’t love – that’s a bad phrase. We’re all trying to do our job." — @BretBaier pic.twitter.com/NGXBdbR1DS
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) October 22, 2019
It was also reported that over the summer, Trump contacted Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott to complain about what he perceived as unfair coverage of his presidency. Though Scott recommended that Trump sit down with Baier at the time, it didn’t change anything, as the president continued his assault on the network afterward.
Earlier this month, daytime host Shepard Smith, who started with Fox News at their inception in 1996, stunned the media world as he announced his sudden departure from the network. Smith and Trump had previously feuded via social media, as reported by The Inquisitr.
Even though Trump wished Smith well in an interview with reporters, he first slammed the host and claimed he was leaving because of “bad ratings,” which was proven untrue as Smith consistently beat out his daytime competitors in his time slot.
