Fox’s Bret Baier Says Trump ‘Has To Do’ At Least One Debate — ‘Fair’ For Rivals To Slam Him For Snubbing

Fox News anchor Bret Baier said ex-President Donald Trump “has to do” at least one debate, and that it’s “fair” for his rivals to criticize Trump for not showing up to debates.

Baier and fellow Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum have been on a bit of a media tour to promote the debate they’re co-moderating Wednesday night on Fox — which as of this moment will not feature Trump, who says he’s skipping the debate to do Carlson’s Twitter/X show.

The latest stop for Baier was on Tuesday’s edition of The Hugh Hewitt Show, during which the subject of Trump’s absence naturally came up — a lot.

Hewitt broached the topic by saying he “regrets” Trump’s decision and asked Baier if he had an opinion on whether Trump could “blockade” the debates and still win.

Baier said he thought the criticism of Trump was fair and that Trump needs to do “a” debate, but also managed to sandwich a compliment in there by noting Trump is “very good” at this sort of engagement:

HUGH HEWITT: I regret that President Trump has declined the invitation, and I think he has made a mistake announcing he’s not going to do any debate. I don’t think you can blockade the debates and win. I don’t know if you have an opinion on that, Bret, do you?

BRET BAIER: I do. I think he has to do a debate. I think, you know, I think it’s fair when these other candidates say it’s not a coronation, it’s an election. And, you know, I do think that, you know, he skipped the 2016 Iowa debate with us and he ended up losing the Iowa caucuses. I’m not saying there’s a direct connection, but people do like to see engagement. He’s very good at it. And I assume he’s going to eventually do one debate.

Watch above via The Hugh Hewitt Show.