Bret Baier

Not to be confused with Brett Baer.
Bret Baier
Bret Baier at Pre-White House Correspondents' Dinner Reception Pre-Party - 14113918565.jpg
Born William Bret Baier
(1970-08-04) August 4, 1970
Rumson, New Jersey, U.S.
Education DePauw University
Occupation News anchor
Notable credit(s) Host of Fox News Channel's Special Report with Bret Baier
Religion Roman Catholic
Spouse(s) Amy Baier
Children 2

William Bret Baier (born August 4, 1970) is the host of Special Report with Bret Baier on the Fox News Channel and serves as the chief political anchor for Fox.[1] He previously worked as the network's Chief White House Correspondent and Pentagon correspondent.

Early life and education

Baier was born in Rumson, New Jersey.[2] He was raised Catholic in Dunwoody, Georgia. He attended Marist High School, a private Roman Catholic high school in Atlanta, graduating in 1988. Baier then attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, graduating in 1992 with a BA degree in political science and English.[3] At DePauw, he became a member of the Xi Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.[4]

Career

Baier began his television career with a local station in Rockford, Illinois, before joining WRAL-TV, then CBS now NBC affiliate (As of February 29, 2016) affiliate in Raleigh, North Carolina. He sent an audition tape to Fox News in 1998, and was hired as the network's Atlanta bureau chief. On September 11, 2001, he drove from Georgia to Arlington, Virginia, to cover the attack on the Pentagon. He never returned to the Atlanta bureau and was instead tapped as the network's Pentagon correspondent, remaining at the post for five years and taking 11 trips to Afghanistan and 13 trips to Iraq.

He was named Fox News's White House correspondent in 2007, covering the administration of George W. Bush. In the fall of 2007, he began substituting for Brit Hume, then the anchor of Special Report, on Fridays.[1]

On December 23, 2008, Brit Hume anchored his final show and announced Baier would replace him as anchor of Special Report.[5] He hosted his first show as permanent anchor on January 5, 2009.[1]

A Freedom of Information Act request filed to investigate alleged anti-Fox News bias in the Barack Obama administration revealed an internal email from the White House communications office, dated October 23, 2009, that referred to Baier as a "lunatic."[6] The aide who sent the email later apologized to Baier.[7]

Fake News Controversy

On November 2, 2016, six days before the election, Baier led off his news show with a report that multiple FBI sources told him that it was 99% likely that Hillary Clinton's email server had been hacked by “five foreign intelligence agencies.” The next day, Baier reported there would "likely be an indictment" in the investigation of Hillary Clinton's role in the Clinton Foundation and State Department. [8] One day later, on November 4, Baier retracted and apologized for both stories, now saying there was no evidence at this time for either allegation. [9] No explanation was given as to how his originally-claimed multiple informants had all given him the same false story. Nevertheless, both Trump and Pence continued to repeat Baier's fake news throughout their campaign speeches in the last weekend of the campaign.

Personal life

Baier, who served as an altar boy in his youth, is a practicing Roman Catholic and attends Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown.[10][11]

Baier and his wife Amy have two sons.[12] One of their sons was born with cardiac problems and before the child's open-heart surgery in 2008, President George W. Bush invited Baier and his wife and son to the Oval Office for a visit and had the White House physician update him on Paul's progress.[1] In 2009, Baier was named a "Significant Sig" by the Sigma Chi Fraternity.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Bret Baier, the Successor to Brit Hume on Fox's 'Special Report'". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. January 6, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  2. ↑ Koncius, Jura (June 25, 2009). "For a Fox Newsman and His Family, A Retreat Inspired by Ralph Lauren". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  3. ↑ Bret Baier|Biography|Fox News; accessed July 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ Significant Sigs | Sigma Chi Fraternity; accessed April 19, 2015.
  5. ↑ Ariens, Chris (December 23, 2008). "Bret Baier to be Named Host of "Special Report"". TV Newser. mediabistro.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Emails reveal White House calling Bret Baier 'a lunatic'". The Daily Caller. July 14, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  7. ↑ "White House Aide Who Called Bret Baier a 'Lunatic' Apologized 'Profusely'". TV Newser. mediabistro.com. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  8. ↑ "BREAKING: FBI Sources Believe Clinton Foundation Scandal Headed Towards Indictment". Fox News. November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Fox News apologizes for falsely reporting that Clinton faces indictment". Washington Post. November 4, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  10. ↑ Rothstein, Betsy (June 10, 2008). "A father's first Father's Day". The Hill. Capitol Hill Publishing Corporation. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ Rothstein, Betsy (February 17, 2011). "How Catholic Is Bret Baier?". fishbowldc. mediabistro.com. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  12. ↑ Roberts, Roxanne; Argetsinger, Amy (July 8, 2010). "The Reliable Source: Love, etc.: Bret Baier, Rachel Dratch, Ed Swiderski and Jillian Harris". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
  13. ↑ Significant Sigs | Sigma Chi Fraternity; accessed October 12, 2014.
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