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 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.[9]
In June 2023, Baier interviewed former US
President Donald Trump.[10] In that interview, Baier pressed Trump on his refusal to return classified documents[11] Asked him why he insulted people he himself had hired, [12] And fact-checked him about the 2020 election [13]
Baier was roundly praised for his performance in the interview,[14][15] which was seen by many as a disaster for Trump.[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]
In February 2024, Baier travelled to Ukraine to interview President
Volodymyr Zelensky about the ongoing
Russo-Ukraine War It was the first interview Zelensky has done on the frontlines of the war. In the interview, Zelensky called
Tucker Carlson's Interview with Vladimir Putin "two hours of bullshit" and made the case for more western aid to Ukraine.[25][21]
Recognition and reception
Awards
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.[26] In 2017, he received the Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism from the
National Press Foundation[27] and the Urbino Press Award from the Municipality of Urbino.[28]
Criticism
Some critics have argued that there is a conservative bias in Baier's reporting.[29] 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. [30] Baier worried that the projection, which turned out to be accurate, might upset Fox viewers enough for them to abandon the network.[31]
Baier and his wife Amy have two sons, Daniel and Paul.[34] 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.[35]
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