Fox Newsâ Bret Baier is acknowledging there were âconcernsâ about Tucker Carlsonâs documentary on the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Baierâs comments come after conservative commentators Jonah Goldberg and Steve Hayes said in a statement they would be resigning from their contributor roles at Fox News due to the documentary.
The networkâs Brian Kilmeade had Baier on his radio show on Tuesday and asked, âWhatâs going on with Steve Hayes and Jonah Goldberg? Why did they not want to come on?â
âI think it was a tough choice but one that they made on principle. And, you know, and Iâm going to let them speak for themselves,â Baier responded. âItâs sad to see them go, and you know Iâm always for hearing all kinds of voices, left, right, Trump, whoever, supporters.â
He continued, âSo, itâs sad for âSpecial Report,â I think for the network, but they made their choice on principle, so Iâll let their statement stand,â he added.
Kilmeade noted that he watched Carlsonâs documentary, and it had an âinteresting perspectiveâ about Jan. 6, but he added, âI didnât get hurt by it. I didnât get damaged by it.â
He asked, âWere you bothered by it? Because thatâs the reporting.â
âThereâs aâŚBrian, I donât want to go down this road,â Baier said, adding, âYou know, I mean, there were concerns about it definitely.â
He continued, âI think that the news division did what we do. And we covered the story. And I wanted to do all of that internally. Steve and Jonah made the decision, and itâs their decision.â
Listen to exchange below:
Baierâs comments come after Goldberg and Hayes said in a statement that they were leaving the network over Carlsonâs documentary âPatriot Purge.â
âThe specialâwhich ran on Foxâs subscription streaming service earlier this month and was promoted on Fox Newsâis presented in the style of an exposĂŠ, a hard-hitting piece of investigative journalism. In reality, it is a collection of incoherent conspiracy-mongering, riddled with factual inaccuracies, half-truths, deceptive imagery, and damning omissions,â the two said in a statement.
They continued, âAnd its message is clear: The U.S. government is targeting patriotic Americans in the same manner âand with the same toolsâthat it used to target al Qaeda.â
âThis is not happening. And we think itâs dangerous to pretend it is. If a person with such a platform shares such misinformation loud enough and long enough, there are Americans who will believeâand act uponâit,â the statement added.
The duo said that Fox News does âreal reporting.â However, they claimed that âvoices of the responsible are being drowned out by the irresponsible.â
Carlson reacted to their departure calling it âgreat news.â
While Hayes and Goldberg said they decided to leave over the documentary, a Fox News executive told The Hollywood Reporter that the network did not intend to renew their contributorships.
