Fox News Host Says ‘Conservatives’ Heads Would’ve Exploded’ If Barack Obama Claimed He Had ‘Total Authority’

Donald Trump claimed this week that he has “total authority” over states’ decisions on when to begin re-opening economies amid the coronavirus crisis.

However, Fox News host Bret Baier said conservatives would have not handled it too well if it were Barack Obama making that controversial suggestion.

As The Daily Beast reported, Trump drew controversy for the statement at Monday’s coronavirus briefing saying that he was the one with the final say on when states will begin reopening parts of their economies as the peak of coronavirus cases has started to pass for many of them. He insisted that as president, he has the last word when it comes to easing social distancing guidelines, a point that was rebuked by legal experts who pointed out that the office of the presidency holds no such power over states.

Baier, the chief political anchor for Fox News, took issue with Trump’s statement and the seeming lack of outrage from conservatives who often pushed back against perceived power grabs from Obama. He said that the U.S. Constitution is clear that it is not the president’s power, but rather that of state and local leaders who will make the decision of when to start reopening some non-essential services.

“I think that there’s hypocrisy here in that, one, if President Obama had said those words that you heard from President Trump, that the authority is total with the presidency, conservatives’ heads would’ve exploded across the board,” he said.

As The Daily Beast wrote, Baier also called out Trump’s critics on the left, noting that many had called him out for not instituting a national stay-in-place order but contending that he had no such power to advise states on when to reopen economies.

While Trump has posited that he has the authority to make decisions on states easing restrictions, a group of governors has begun working together on their own plan. As CNN reported, the governors of West Coast states have worked together, with California Governor Gavin Newsom outlining a framework for the state to begin reopening its economy.

Newsom has not yet announced a specific date, and there is a statewide stay-at-home order that lasts through May 3, with a longer one for Los Angeles. As the report noted, the California governor pushed back against Trump’s idea that he has the authority on making this decision.

“There is no light switch here, it’s more like a dimmer,” Newsom said. “I know you want the timeline, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves and dream of regretting. Let’s not make the mistake of pulling the plug too early, as much as we want to.”