Tuesday, Bret Baier, a Fox News presenter, participated in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, a conservative radio host, in anticipation of the impending Republican presidential primary debate. On Wednesday, Baier will serve as the moderator for this event. Baier sobbed that Trump’s absence was going to derail his debate.
Donald Trump, a former president and one of the greatest in history, has announced that he will not participate in the upcoming debate in Milwaukee. This debate will be co-moderated by Martha MacCallum and broadcast by Fox, a network that Trump has recently vehemently criticized.
During the interview, Hewitt asked the Fox anchor, “Bret Baier, there’s a story this morning that he has agreed to turn himself in in Atlanta on Thursday. Do you think he plans this? Because that would be the worst counterprogramming ever if that’s voluntary.”
Baier responded by emphasizing the need for a strategic planning procedure.
“I think there has to be some planning.”
“I mean, I think it is about sucking the oxygen out of the room for anybody who had a big night on Wednesday making the rounds on Thursday. I do think that there is, they are calculated like that. It’s not a great counter-programming thing, but I do think it is calculated,” Baier asserted.
During the conversation, Hewitt inquired about Baier’s perspective on Trump’s announcement that he will not participate in the forthcoming debate, as well as several other Republican debates.
“I regret that President Trump has declined the invitation, and I think he has made a mistake announcing he’s not going to do any debate. I don’t think you can blockade the debates and win. I don’t know if you have an opinion on that, Bret, do you?” Hewitt inquired.
“I do. I think he has to do a debate,” Baier responded by suggesting that it is necessary for him to engage with those other candidates.
“I think, you know, I think it’s fair when these other candidates say it’s not a coronation, it’s an election. And, you know, I do think that you know, he skipped the 2016 Iowa debate with us and he ended up losing the Iowa caucuses. I’m not saying there’s a direct connection, but people do like to see engagement. He’s very good at it. And I assume he’s going to eventually do one debate,” he finished.
X users sounded off about the upcoming debate:
So Bret Baier has spoken to President Trump at least four times over the phone, begging Trump to attend the Fox News debate. Ronna McDaniel also urged Trump to attend.
The Trump and Tucker interview has already been taped and will be posted on debate night instead.
There is no…
— Top Secret (@ICU1010) August 21, 2023
🎯 So, on Wednesday, August 23, we all have a choice on Debate Night
We can choose the
G.I.A.T. (Greatest Interview of All Times)
Tucker Carlson and President Donald J Trump …OR…Faux News, The Keebler Elves with creepo Bret Baier
I'm doing the American thing ~ 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Dppl9G3wgt
— 🇺🇸 🦅Cath'rin🦅 🇺🇸 (@catnap1013) August 21, 2023
Larry Elder, another candidate for the Republican nomination, was disqualified from the debates due to a Rasmussen poll.
He posted on x:
“I intend to sue the RNC to halt Wednesday’s presidential debate. I said from the beginning that it appeared the rules of the game were rigged, little did we know just how rigged it is. For some reason, the establishment leaders at the RNC are afraid of having my voice on the debate stage. Just as I had to fight to successfully be on the ballot in the California recall election, I will fight to be on that debate stage because I fully met all of the requirements to do so.”
I intend to sue the RNC to halt Wednesday's presidential debate.
I said from the beginning that it appeared the rules of the game were rigged, little did we know just how rigged it is. For some reason, the establishment leaders at the RNC are afraid of having my voice on the… pic.twitter.com/PX5fnD1Rkn
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) August 22, 2023
The campaign for Elder issued the following statement.
Prior to the August 21, 2023, 9:00 p.m. EDT qualification deadline for the first Republican National Committee debate, the campaign of Larry Elder submitted a comprehensive qualification document to David Bossie, director of RNC debates.
• Larry Elder’s qualification package included proof of:
• EXCEEDING the RNC’s requirement of at least 40,000 individual donors;
• EXCEEDING the RNC’s requirement of 200 donors in 20 states (Elder nearly doubled that, with 200 donors in at least 37 states);
• MEETING the RNC’s polling requirement of at least 1% in select polls, and providing the detailed cross tabs of such polls;
• SIGNING the “Beat Biden” loyalty pledge to support the ultimate GOP nominee;
• AGREEING to allow the RNC to view our Wined fundraising totals, which exceed their requirements;
• Other pertinent required information to participate in the debate
• Only after receiving our completed qualification package, did the RNC inform us that they were not accepting Rasmussen Polls as qualifying toward the debate.
• The reason, as stated by the RNC, is that Rasmussen Polls have ties to former President Donald Trump – an individual who is not even participating in the upcoming debate. Larry Elder has no knowledge about whether Donald Trump has ever worked with Rasmussen previously.
• In fact, Rasmussen Polls is a reputable, nationally-recognized firm and one of only THREE polling firms who accurately predicted the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election (along with the Trafalgar Group.)
Earlier this month Trump attacked Fox host Bret Baier, Ron DeSantis, and a number of other rivals.
Trump posted on Truth Social, “MAGA, which is most of the Republican Party, is very angry at FoxNews for continuing to push Ron DeSanctimonious, no personality and all, and guys like Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, who couldn’t even start a presidential run because of zero poll numbers, whose got his father’s look, but not his father’s brain.”
In another, he stated, “In almost every poll, DeSanctimonious loses to Biden, while I am far ahead of Biden, Bret Baier of FoxNews (of course!) should have stated this fact during his SOFTBALL interview of DeSanctus,” criticizing Baier for his Monday night interview with Desantis.