Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier told former President Donald Trump during a controversial interview that aired Monday night that he was the loser of the 2020 election — something the 2024 Republican hopeful continues to deny.
The back-and-forth bickering continued as Baier asked Trump how he could recruit good people to work for him in the White House for a second term.
Baier noted how Trump had in recent days called former Attorney General Bill Barr a “gutless pig” and said his ex-chief of staff John Kelly was “born with a [very] small brains.’
The Fox News anchor had first asked Trump how he might lure suburban independent female voters back to his camp after losing them to President Joe Biden in the 2020 race.
“First of all, I won a lot in 2020, okay?” Trump replied. ‘Let’s sort that out. I won in 2020.’
“You lost the 2020 election,” Baier replied.
Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier (right) told former President Donald Trump (left) during a controversial interview that aired Monday night that he was the loser of the 2020 election — something the 2024 Republican hopeful still denies
The two men then bickered over the election results, with Baier claiming there was “no evidence” of Trump’s long-held widespread election fraud claims.
“There were recounts in all swing states,” Baier noted. “There were investigations, widespread corruption was not realized. There were lawsuits. More than 50 of them, some for judges you appointed.’
“There were reviews of every single case of voter fraud in six battleground states and they found fewer than 475 cases,” the Fox host continued.
Trump continued to push the false claims.
‘You know why? Because they haven’t been looking at the right things,” he argued. “They were counting ballots, not the authenticity of the ballots. The ballots were counterfeit ballots.’
Baier then went back to the broader question of what Trump would change to win the next election.
“I’d like to be less belligerent, but I think the press is extremely unfair and if I’m not belligerent, I’m not taking my word for it. If I’m not combative, I don’t know, I don’t think you could win,” the ex-president argued.
As President Trump said he would push for “strong people, strong government.”
“We put in people who were great and we put in people who weren’t,” the ex-president explained.
“I probably know Washington better than anyone now,” he continued. “I know the good and the bad – and we’re going to have really great strong people, I already know who they are, but we’re going to have really great strong people, okay?”
That led to a monologue from Baier.
“This time your Vice President Mike Pence is running against you. Your ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, she stands up to you. Your former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he does not support you. You mentioned National Security Adviser John Bolton. He doesn’t support you either. You mentioned Attorney General Bill Barr. He says you shouldn’t be president anymore. He called you a consummate narcissist and a troubled man. You called Barr a dastardly pig the other day,” Baier said.
“Your second defense minister doesn’t support you. He called you irresponsible,” the Fox host continued. “This week you called your White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly, weak and ineffective and born with a very small brain. You called your acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney a born loser.”
“You called your Prime Minister, Rex Tillerson, dumb as a rock, and your Prime Minister, James Matt, is the most overrated general in the world. You’ve called your Whtie House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany milquetoast and several times you’ve referred to your transportation secretary Elaine Chao as Mitch McConnell’s wife who loves China,” Baier added.
He then turned to Trump: “So why did you hire them all in the first place?”
“Because I took 10 to one that were fantastic,” the ex-president argued. “For everyone you say I had 10 who love us.”
Trump also insisted that those allies turned critics be paid — pointing out how Barr had gotten a book deal after the White House.
Trump’s interview with Baier — which will go on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. EST — comes amid the ex-president’s feud with the right-wing news network.
Over the weekend, Trump insisted that only he could revive the network’s ratings.
“Fox needs to get smart fast before it’s too late,” he posted on Truth Social. Only “Trump” can save Fox News. It’s in free fall!’