Fox News' Bret Baier was too 'smiley and nice' to Bernie Sanders, complains Trump


President Trump on Tuesday morning sounded pretty upset over Fox News' town hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — but not because of anything Sanders said.
Instead, Trump attacked Fox News itself for its Monday event with the 2020 Democrat, saying that "not surprisingly," moderator Bret Baier and the audience were "so smiley and nice," putting the word "audience" in quotes as if to raise suspicion. He also referenced Fox News' recent hiring of former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile as a contributor, calling all of this "very strange."
This tweet, Politico's Anna Palmer points out, was Trump's first time commenting on Sanders at all since February. But other than labeling him "Crazy Bernie," Trump didn't really attack his potential 2020 opponent despite apparently watching it, although perhaps he only saw the clip of the audience being pretty receptive to Sanders' Medicare for All proposal.
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Trump has evidently had his eye on Baier for a while, with The New Yorker reporting in March that the president rates the loyalty of everyone on Fox News on a scale of 1 to 10; Baier only gets a 6 compared to Fox & Friends' Steve Doocy, who gets a 12. Baier responded to Trump's tweet by writing, "Thanks for watching, Mr. President." Brendan Morrow
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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