The Tragedy Of Fox News Host Bret Baier Is Just Sad

From the aftermath of 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to numerous presidential campaigns, elections, and inaugurations, Bret Baier has pretty much seen it and done it all during his decades-long stint with Fox News. The journeyman, who graduated from DePauw University with a degree in political science before moving into local TV, has been recognized for his efforts, too, receiving countless prestigious industry awards, landing his own show, "Special Report," and even becoming golfing pals with re-elected POTUS Donald Trump.

But not everything in Baier's eventful life has turned out so rosy. Indeed, the New Jersey native has experienced several career setbacks during his rise from South Carolina network WJWJ TV16 to America's biggest conservative news platform. And his family life has been beset by everything from serious car crashes to multiple open-heart surgeries. Here's a look at nine times the anchorman's story took a turn for the tragic.

Bret Baier and his family suffered a major scare in 2019 when the car they were traveling in fell victim to Montana's icy conditions. The anchorman, along with wife Amy and sons Daniel and Paul, had been returning to the airport after a skiing vacation when the vehicle crashed and flipped over. Luckily, as explained in a statement given to People, there was a passerby that stopped to help.

"Thanks to a man driving by named Zach who stopped and helped, we were able to climb out of the flipped car," Baier revealed. "And thanks to the first responders and Montana Highway Patrol — we made it to the hospital quickly." The Fox News regular also tweeted his gratitude, reminding his followers that "every day is a blessing" and the importance of family.

All four of the Baiers were allowed to go home that same day, with Megyn Kelly, Ainsley Earhardt, and Stephen Colbert — whose late-night show was due to welcome Bret later that week — all offering their well wishes. Remarkably, just 24 hours later, Bret was back on camera doing what he does best. "Thank you again to everyone for the support and prayers," the star told viewers toward the end of "Special Report." "Amy and I are very grateful."

Bret Baier and wife Amy's joy at becoming first-time parents in 2007 quickly turned into despair when doctors diagnosed their newborn son Paul with no fewer than five congenital heart defects. The pair were also told that the baby would require several open-heart surgeries and couldn't promise that he'd ever be able to join them at their Georgetown home.

"It was like a bomb went off in the room," Bret told his Fox News home network in 2014. "And I remember all of those things, that moment, changing our lives. Because [the doctor] essentially said if he didn't have surgery within days, he would die." Thankfully, Paul survived the first two surgeries he had at just 12 days and 10 months old, respectively. But this certainly wasn't the end of his physical health struggles: the youngster would continue to undergo countless other procedures over the following two decades, too.

While promoting his book, "Special Heart: A Journey of Faith, Hope, Courage and Love," Bret explained how the family's faith has helped them deal with such tough times: "[Paul] said 'Daddy, why do I have to go through all this heart stuff and the other kids in my class don't?' And I thought about it, and I said, 'Well, God has a plan for you, and he's just testing you right now, and right now you're passing with flying colors.'"

In 2020, Bret Baier took to Instagram to confirm the sad news that his beloved father, Bill, had lost his lengthy battle with cancer. Alongside a photo of the pair, the Fox News host revealed that he and wife Amy and sons Paul and Daniel had got the chance to say their goodbyes several days previously, going on to describe the fact that his dad's passing was relatively quick as a blessing.

Bret had regularly spoken about how much he idolized his pop, including a 2017 interview with MarketWatch to commemorate Father's Day. Recalling the moment that Bill told him as a nine-year-old that the family was moving from New Jersey to Atlanta, the DePauw University graduate said, "It felt like the end of the world. But I remember my dad telling me, 'Bud, this is part of business. You always have to keep striving for the next rung on the ladder, and sometimes that means you need to move.' I learned from watching him that hard work really did open a lot of doors."

Bill's work ethic inspired Bret to launch his own grass-cutting firm in his teenage years, one which proved to be so busy that he was able to treat himself to a moped. And now the "Special Report" host hopes to pass on the same life lessons to his own kids. Also referring to his equally motivated father-in-law, Paul Hills, he added, "Their stories taught me that success comes to the people who work the hardest to dig it out."

Bret Baier's son Paul suffered another major health scare in 2024 when, during a routine check-up, doctors discovered a golf ball-sized aneurysm had developed off his heart, which, had it burst, could have been fatal. The youngster subsequently had to undergo his fifth open-heart surgery in his 16 years. And the Fox News regular was the parent who had to break the news to his son.

"He thought I was joking at first, then he absorbed it and said, 'Okay, let's do what we need to do,'" Bret told People. "He's always been that warrior, but this was a big one to absorb." The former Pentagon correspondent went on to describe how emotional he felt at watching his eldest being taken away on a gurney for the umpteenth time and the anxiety he suffered while waiting for the ten-hour operation to come to an end.

Thankfully, the surgery was a success, and Paul was able to return home after just five days. Soon after, Bret publicly expressed his gratitude to the medical team responsible. "We're just really blessed that they found it, that they fixed it," he told ET. "I think it's really important for everybody to say thank you to the doctors and nurses because they are top notch in the world and that's the reason Paul is alive."

It's fair to say that Bret Baier didn't exactly cover himself in glory when he sat down for an interview with presidential candidate Kamala Harris on the eve of the 2024 elections. The Fox News host repeatedly interrupted the politician, was accused of being overly aggressive in his questioning, and even had to apologize for a blatant error.

"It was supposed to give viewers an opportunity to actually hear her plans as President," MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski remarked (via The Daily Beast) about the controversial head-to-head. "Instead, as you saw, it almost immediately devolved into an embarrassing, bad-faith effort by a once-respected host to play to an audience of one." And that appeared to be the general consensus on the more liberal side of the media anyway.

Baier didn't express any regrets over his tone toward Harris, but he did say acknowledge — albeit 24 hours later — that he'd "made a mistake." The avid golfer appeared to be referring to the moment Harris called out Donald Trump's comments about bringing in the National Guard to handle "radical left lunatics." A clip in which the 44th claimed he wasn't issuing any threats was then shown, but this wasn't the footage that the vice president had referred to. She immediately said (via AP News), "Bret, I'm sorry, and with all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the enemy within ... that's not what you just showed."

Bret Baier's journalistic reputation was called into question in 2022 when a new book alleged that he'd asked Fox News to withdraw its Arizona call for Joe Biden during the presidential election two years previously. Peter Baker and Susan Glasser's "The Divider: Trump in the White House" claimed that the anchorman had been worried such news would turn off the network's primarily Republican audience.

In a published email, Baier warns Fox News bosses that Donald Trump's campaign was growing increasingly irritated with the channel's coverage and that he was finding the situation untenable. Accusing the Decision Desk of "holding on for pride," he added (via The Guardian), "It's hurting us. The sooner we pull it — even if it gives us a major egg — and we put it back in his [Trump's] column, the better we are in my opinion."

And the situation got worse for Baier when text exchanges between himself and proud provocateur Tucker Carlson were obtained by The Daily Beast. In one such message, the former admitted he'd been pushing for the Decision Desk to take more time with their election calls. The one-time White House correspondent also concurred with Carlson's assertion that "We could really f*** up a lot of what we've built" if such requests weren't granted. The Daily Beast concluded, "Though Baier is often viewed as a consummate newsman, his texts here suggest a commitment to preserving a highly partisan, fact-averse audience over responsible newsgathering."

Bret Baier caused controversy during a 2016 appearance on "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" when he appeared to defend the mentor who'd just been accused by Gretchen Carlson of sexual harassment. Referring to the allegations made against Fox News head honcho Roger Ailes, the anchorman said (via Variety), "He's one of the first people who called when my son had to have open heart surgery, not once but three times. That's the Roger I know. So these headlines are foreign to me."

Of course, over the next few months, several other women, including Megyn Kelly, came forward to make similar allegations, leaving Baier a little red-faced over how vehemently he'd defended his boss of 18 years. Indeed, while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in the midst of the scandal, the DePauw University graduate admitted, "I was mourning the guy that I thought I knew."

Baier went on to clarify exactly why he'd spoken up in support of the disgraced mogul, who died the following year aged 77: "As I said at the time, Roger had always been decent to me and my family, and I spoke about him based on my personal experiences with him. After all that came to light, I was very sad for the women involved. But that sadness quickly turned into anger. None of that should have ever happened. Period. The end."

Even Bret Baier knows what it's like to feel undervalued at work. Yes, the anchorman may be one of Fox News' most dependable faces, having been with the network since 1998. But that doesn't automatically mean that his efforts always get appreciated.

In 2020, Baier pitched a Sunday night hour-long special that would address all the fake news swirling around about the presidential elections, much of which had been instigated by Donald Trump. According to NPR, the anchorman believed that such a show would be "an important way to show Fox's audience that it was taking their concerns seriously while presenting them with the facts." However, bosses didn't appear to agree that such an education was necessary.

In fact, they reportedly didn't even get back to Baier with a firm answer either way. "By the time everything was moving forward, we were transitioning to covering Biden's first term," an unnamed executive explained. "It was past the point of litigating this point any further." Apparently, the host stopped pitching the idea following the January 6 insurrection.

Bret Baier spent six years as Fox News' Pentagon correspondent, visiting no fewer than 74 different countries, including more than a dozen trips to Iraq. And it was during one of these jeopardous trips to the Middle East that the anchorman feared for his life.

Indeed, speaking to the Daily Mail in 2023, Baier remembered the moment he and his security guards, formerly of the SAS, were traveling across a road near an airport that had been repeatedly bombed. Although kitted out with a helmet and flak jacket, the New Jersey native still found the 100 miles-per-hour journey a hair-raising one.

"They said nothing," Baier recalled about the men flanking him at the time. "I said, 'Do you guys get attacked on this road much?' And there's still crickets. I said, 'So how often are there attacks?' Finally, one guy turns around and says, 'Well, it's like a bingo bin turning round and round. And let's just say there aren't too many balls in this bin.'" The "Special Report" host freely admitted that he was left so scared that he believed it would be a miracle if he hadn't wet himself by the time he reached his destination.