Fox News anchor Bret Baier challenged Donald Trump on live television after the president criticized the network’s midterm polling, which had forecast significant Republican losses.
The exchange took place shortly after midnight ET, when Trump was asked about “candidate quality” following defeats suffered by Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton and South Carolina nominee Darline Graham—both of whom he had supported.
Trump said he “had no choice” but to back Paxton before turning his criticism toward Fox News. “The Fox polls are terrible. You ought to get yourself a good pollster, because your pollster is the worst,” he said.
Baier immediately pushed back, telling the president: “But tonight, actually, the results are pretty close to what the Fox polls showed.”
Fox’s final midterms polls, published November 1, had projected that Democrats would take control of the House of Representatives—a prediction that proved accurate.
The polling also described the Senate race as a toss-up, with Democrats ultimately winning control there as well.
Fox News host Bret Baier quickly corrected President Trump live on air early Wednesday after Trump blasted the network’s polling
Trump slated Fox News forecasting that correctly predicted Democrats would take control of the House of Representatives
Fox News also predicted races were too close to call in traditional Republican strongholds like Kansas and Texas, where Democrats also won historic victories.
Despite Baier correcting him, Trump continued to vent his ire at Fox’s polling.
‘Well I don’t know about that,’ he said in response to Baier’s clapback.
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‘I can just tell you about speaking for myself and the results with Fox with me were wrong for 12 years. They’ve got me wrong for 12 years.
‘I shouldn’t say this,’ Trump said, ‘But Abraham Lincoln was at eight percent, Ronald Reagan was at 13 percent and Trump was at, like, 54 percent and then I read at Fox that I’m not popular.
‘You know, I mean, the Fox polls are terrible. You ought to get yourself a new pollster because your polls are the worst.
President Trump, pictured in Washington DC on Monday, said he’s open to working with the Democrats in the wake of the Republican party’s midterm losses
Trump told Baier he continued to back US Senate candidate for Texas Ken Paxton (pictured giving his concession speech late Tuesday) who lost to Democrat James Talarico in an historic defeat
Baier also asked Trump if there was an issue with ‘candidate quality’ in regards to South Carolina Senate candidate Darlene Graham, who also lost to a Democrat
‘But I don’t care, it doesn’t matter.’
Trump previously told Fox News he’d accept the results of Tuesday’s midterm elections, which saw Democrats take control of Congress and make deep inroads in multiple deep-red states.
The humbled president also told The New York Times that he was open to working with the Democrats, saying: ‘We’ll, you know, look forward to working with them.
‘We’ll probably work something out.’
The president earlier said that he blamed his unpopular invasion of Iran in February for the Republican party’s drubbing at the ballot box.
He insisted that he did not regret the bombing, which saw Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed in an air strike.
Iran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a body of water through which approximately 25 percent of the world’s seaborne oil passes.
That saw sharp rises in gas prices and the general cost of living.
Trump swept to a huge victory in 2024 by vowing to tackle price spikes under the Biden administration, while also promising ‘no new wars.’
