President Trump has mocked Fox News’ town hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders saying it was “weird” to watch and noted that Fox News anchor Bret Baier seemed awfully “smiley” during the event. Trump also appeared to suggest some frustration with the network’s decision to hire Democratic operative (and fierce Trump critic) Donna Brazile.
“So weird to watch Crazy Bernie on @FoxNews. Not surprisingly, @BretBaier and the “audience” was so smiley and nice. Very strange, and now we have @donnabrazile?” Trump said in a tweet.
In a tweet of his own, Baier shot back, saying the president was welcome to come on for an interview of his own. While Trump frequently speaks to friendly channel opinion hosts, he has taken a far cooler approach to appearances with hard news anchors like Baier.
(Though they did hang out when Baier went to Mar-a-Lago in 2017)
“Thanks for watching Mr. President – we’d love to have you on a town hall soon — or even an interview on @SpecialReport –it’s been awhile. We cover all sides,” he said.
On Monday, the news network hosted a town hall with leading Democratic candidate Sanders. The event was moderated by channel hard news stalwarts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
While Sanders faced pressure from many of his left-wing allies not to appear on the network, the unfiltered hour of the Democratic Socialist appears to have gotten under Trump’s skin. Such extended criticism of his administration is rare on Fox News, which Trump is known to watch closely.
At one point during the event, Sanders addressed the president directly noting that he has released 10 years of tax returns and urged the billionaire to do the same.
“The president watches your network a little bit, right?” Sanders said. “Hey, President Trump, my wife and I just released 10 years [of tax returns] — please do the same. Let the American people know.”
Trump has said he cannot released his tax returns because they are under an IRS audit (which has now lasted four years.) but that he would release them when the audit is complete. Others in his administration however like acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney have bluntly said Trump’s opponents will “never” get access to them.