Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier has responded to claims that he was trying to spin the midterm election results in the Republicans’ favor.
Americans voted on Tuesday for who will represent them in Congress after weeks of tense campaigning. According to reports, the night ended with Democrats winning a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
But one moment on Fox News’ coverage caught viewers’ attention. Baier appeared to ask how the network would “spin” the result of Abdul El-Sayed’s win in Michigan.
What did Baier say on air?
Reporter Garrett Tenney had just told viewers that his team on the ground had seen numerous yard signs supporting El-Sayed. Baier was then heard saying, “Okay. Can we do a spin on the races that…”
Realizing his comment had gone out live, he quickly added, “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess we’re on TV now.”
He tried to laugh it off with co-host Martha MacCallum, joking, “That’s what happens at 11:24pm.”
Reactions poured in on social media. “America is sick and tired of you and your spin” one X user wrote. Another said, “The country has spoken. They hate FOX right now. Too much spinning”
How did Baier respond?
Baier has since pushed back on claims that he was trying to spin the news of El-Sayed’s popularity in Trump’s favor. He wrote on X that he was speaking off-camera to his colleague Bill Hemmer as they reported on the midterm elections.
“That was to Bill Hemmer,” he wrote. “A spin on the board with Bill to see the various races that were outstanding.”
He later explained that the phrase refers to a spin on the board that Hemmer controls, looking at states where votes were still coming in. He said it meant showing Michigan, Maine, and Iowa, the states that were still outstanding at that point.
What did Trump say about the results?
President Donald Trump reacted on Truth Social. “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he wrote.
In a series of other posts, he called the Democratic Party the “Dumocrats,” appeared to blame Fox News for the heavy Republican losses, and said he was going to become a political pundit.
In an interview with Fox, however, Trump struck a more measured tone. “I think the Democrats did a good job; I really do,” he said. “They fought hard.”
He added that Democrats had been looking for this result for 11 years “and they finally got it.”
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