Comedian Bill Maher labeled Bret Baier an “asshole” over the Fox News host’s combative interview with Kamala Harris.
The liberal talk show host, 68, said in his Real Time with Bill Maher monologue Friday evening that he had “misjudged” Baier and claimed he previously believed he was “the most legitimate journalist on Fox News.”
“No actually, he was a huge asshole,” Maher told the reporter.
Maher, an outspoken anti-Trump voice, then defended Harris’ performance in her interview with Baier, which was labeled a “car crash” by many of her opponents and said Baier was “ending her campaign.”
Comedian Bill Maher labeled Bret Baier an “a**hole” this week in his Real Time with Bill Maher monologue
Maher said he “misjudged” Baier because he previously believed he was “the most legitimate journalist on Fox News”
During his interview with Harris on Fox News, Maher joked that “they were being honest,” adding, “They asked her the same question they ask every guest: ‘Don’t you just hate Kamala Harris?’
Maher turned his attention to Baier — who has clashed with Harris on a number of issues, including her record on immigration and the economy — and asked his audience, “Do you know this man?”
‘I must say I misjudged him. I had always heard about him,” he continued.
“I don’t watch Fox News that much, so I didn’t know, but they kept saying he was the most legitimate journalist on Fox News… No actually, he was a huge jerk.”
Maher insisted he wasn’t insulting Baier in a “partisan way,” before repeating, “Well, there’s hard journalism, and then he was just a huge asshole.”
“So, you know, being the most legitimate journalist on Fox is a bit like being the most popular person at the dollar store.”
Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier (left) spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris (right) in Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, he told viewers that he played the wrong clip when he questioned her about recent comments from former President Donald Trump
Baier’s interview quickly divided viewers, with Harris supporters saying he “ambushed” her, while opponents said it was a “car accident.”
Vince Langman, a Trump supporter, wrote after the broadcast: “I forgive Bret Baier. He’s literally ending Kamala Harris’ campaign right before our eyes!’
Brian Stelter, a media analyst for CNN, countered that the interview was a positive outcome for Harris.
“A lot of viewers will come away saying, ‘Wow, she’s willing to do that. That is a sign of toughness and strength,” Stelter said in a clip shared by the Harris campaign on social media.
However, Baier admitted to his Fox News colleagues this week that he had made a glaring mistake during a contentious moment in his interview with Harris.
During Thursday night’s episode of his show, Special Report, Baier told panelists Harris Faulkner and Harold Ford Jr. that there had been one big mistake.
“Harold, I made a mistake. And I wanted to say I made a mistake,” Baier said. “When I called for a sound bite, I expected a piece on the ‘enemy from within’ from Maria Bartiromo’s interview to be linked to the piece from your town hall, Harris, where you asked the former president about ‘the enemy from within’. “‘
Instead, Baier admitted, what unfolded was just “the City Hall part.”
“Just listen to what I wanted to roll,” he told viewers.
Former President Donald Trump had said during his conversation with Fox’s Bartiromo on Sunday, “I think the bigger problem is the enemy within.”
“Not even the people who came in and [are] destroy our country. We have some sick people, radical left-wing lunatics. And I think it is – and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, the National Guard, or, if really necessary, by the military,” Trump said.
That comment was widely criticized, with Harris even playing it to her audience Monday night when she held a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, making it all the more obvious, even though that wasn’t what was going on during the sit-down with Baier.
What Baier played up during the Harris interview was the opportunity Faulkner gave Trump to clean up his act.
“I’ve heard about that,” Trump said during Faulker’s town hall. ‘They said I was threatening. I don’t threaten anyone. They are the ones who threaten.”
‘They do research by telephone. More research has been done on me than on Alphonse Capone. He was the biggest gangster,” the ex-president continued. ‘No, it’s true. No, but think about it. It’s called arming the government. It’s a terrible thing.’
When Harris heard this clip played and not Trump’s initial “enemy from within” comments, she became incredulous.
“Bret, I’m sorry, and with all due respect, that segment was not what he said about the enemy within, what he repeated when he talked about the American people,” Harris said. “That’s not what you just showed,” she argued.
At the time, Baier defended playing that clip.
“Well, he was asked about that particular…” Baier began to say.
“No, no, no, that’s not what you just showed, in all fairness and respect to you,” Harris shot back.
“I’m telling you that was the question we asked him,” Baier said.